Long time asteroid mining proponent John S Lewis will give a SETI Institute public talk this evening that will also be available online (7 pm PDT, 10 pm EDT):

Please join us tonight at 7pm for a free public talk at the SETI Institute Headquarters at 189 Bernardo Ave, Mountain View.

If you can’t be at the SETI Institute in person, the talk will be broadcast online and live at the following link: https://plus.google.com/events/cfij418phv10tocljpb2dp56630

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Title:        “To The Asteroids – and beyond!”
Speaker:   John Lewis (UAz)
When:      Tonight, 10 September 7pm PDT, 2013
Where:     Colloquium Room, SETI Headquarters, 189 Bernardo Ave, Mountain View
Poster:      http://www.seti.org/sites/default/files/csc-Sep-13.pdf
Live link:  https://plus.google.com/events/cfij418phv10tocljpb2dp56630
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Abstract:

Tsiolkovsii and Goddard dreamed of the day when we would have access to the resources  of the asteroids.  Today, with an enormous and rapidly growing body of data on meteorites,  the Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) and their more distant counterparts, we can envision the propulsion systems, transportation system architectures, ores, processing schemes and markets for products made from materials sourced in nearby space.  Most of these products are of greatest value and significance in space; some, such as platinum-group metals and
energy, would be worth returning to Earth.

The resources of the NEAs also provide the propellants and structural materials for a broad expansion of human presence in space.

Dr. John Lewis is the author of the 1997 book “Mining the Sky” and is an Emeritis Professor of Planetary Science at University of Arizona. This talk will survey the what, where, how and why of space resource utilization– and raise the timely question of when.

Update: Here is the talk:

“To the Asteroids – and Beyond” – John S. Lewis talk webcast