| These figures aren't adjusted for Delta-V, or inflation, but here are some dollar figures for asteroid and lunar sample return missions: Hayabusa, 2005 - $100 billion dollars per kg Hayabusa 2, 2019 - $33.3 billion dollars per kg OSIRIS-REx - 2020 - $491.7 million per kg Chang'e - 2020 - $104 million per kg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY6aCg5InzY&t=170s Seems to be trending downward... Who knows if it'll be enough. I was curious if a similar downward trend existed for solar panels... "In 1956, solar panels cost roughly $300 per watt. By 1975, that figure had dropped to just over $100 a watt. Today, a solar panel can cost as little as $0.50 a watt." https://news.energysage.com/the-history-and-invention-of-sol... So, that's a factor of 600 to get to present costs. Gold currently costs $56,500 per kg. So, $33,900,000/kg. So, who knows where we could be in 50-70 years. Plenty of time to switch the entire global economy to Bitcoin, I suppose! |