Asteroid Miners: Difference between revisions
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Spectrographic analysis of the asteroids in Earth's solar system show that there's tons of mineral wealth just floating out there waiting for some daring [[Prospector]] with a rocket, a spacesuit, and a drill to go get it. Creators of Science Fiction thus came up with the image of the Belters (also known as Rock Rats, Rockskippers, and so on) as rugged, independent types who prefer the freedom of a one-man spaceship and a life of hard work to living under someone else's rules.
It should also be noted that asteroid mining is one of the things that make [[Alien Invasion
Stories that feature [[Recycled in Space|miners IN SPACE!]] draw [[Space Western|a lot of inspiration from]] (and sometimes directly steal from) stories regarding the various gold and silver rushes of the 1800s.
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Not to be confused with [[Space Mines]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime
* ''[[Mighty Space Miners]]'', a hard-ish Science Fiction [[OVA]].
* The introdump sequence of the pilot of the ''[[Captain Harlock]]'' series ''Arcadia of My Youth'' (1982) shows a bunch of asteroid miners getting killed.
* Asteroid mines (abandoned ones) appear in one episode of ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]''. It goes without saying that humans probably worked in them at some point.
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** ''The Martian Way'' is about a colony of asteroid miners on Mars threatened by Straw Environmentalists putting an embargo on water exports from Earth. The miners hatch a plan to grab one of the ice fragments in Saturn's rings, which is only possible because they're psychologically tough enough to endure the long, isolated trip.
* ''[[The Rolling Stones (novel)|The Rolling Stones]]'' by [[Robert A. Heinlein]] features the titular family Stone traveling to the Asteroid Belt, where the twins of the family hope to sell food and luxury items to the miners extracting radioactive ores.
*
**
* Murray Leinster's ''Miners in The Sky'' takes place in the ring system around Thotmess, a gas giant in another star system. The ring system is a completely lawless place where "claim jumping" is frequent. Miners, riding small "donkey ships", need to contend with both the harsh natural environment and with fierce human competitors.
* In Jerry Pournelle's short story ''Tinker'', the Asteroid Belt is dominated by a consortium of multiplanetary corporations. In a subversion of the genre, [[Author Appeal|the corporations are the good guys and the rugged, individualistic asteroid miners are the bad guys]].
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* In the Larklight Series by Phillip Reeve, steam punk asteroid miners are hard at work among the asteroids of various planets in our solar systems, complete with minecart tracks tying the asteroids together.
* In [[Star Trek: A Time to...]], this is how the Dokaalan race live, following their planet's [[Earthshattering Kaboom]].
* [[Randall Garrett]] mentioned asteroid mining in a lot of his short stories, and was named by [[Larry Niven]] as the source of his ideas about the Belters.
** "Anchorite" and "Thin Edge" deal with the differences in culture between bureaucratic Earth and free-thinking Belt people.
** "A Spaceship Named McGuire" and "His Master's Voice" are set in the Belt, with miner technology and culture as a background.
== Live Action TV ==
* The titular ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' is a mining ship carrying (and processing) ore on its way back to Earth. At least, that was the plan...
* In the ''[[Battlestar Galactica
** And in "Scar", the fleet mines asteroids for metal ores and radioactives vital to the fleet's continual survival.
* Milo Clancey from the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' serial "The Space Pirates" is an asteroid miner.
* ''[[Lexx]]'''s backstory combines this with [[Dug Too Deep]].
* Montgomery Scott mentions "working the cargo runs, bringing in supplies and taking out cargo" for
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== Tabletop Games ==
* In ''[[Warhammer
** Ironically, they are
** ''[[Rogue Trader]]'' has various Endeavors related to this. Also, asteroid-mining and (smaller) comet-mining facilities as equipment for ships, allowing to extract some income wherever some of those are found.
* The ''[[Star*Drive]]'' fluff mentions asteroid mining as a common (though dangerous) source of income, especially in frontier regions.
* One of the career options in the sci-fi [[Role
* ''[[GURPS]]: Spaceships'' has a bunch of asteroid mining ships in the Industry book. Asteroid miners also show up in their ''Transhuman Space'' setting.
* Present in [[Traveller]] . Glisten, one of the most important mining colonies in the traveller universe subverts the trope of the wild frontier asteroids, being a cultured and civilized place and the home of important grandees. Several other belts play this straight.
* Asteroid mining, especially valuable ice asteroids, is one of the primary industries in orbit over ''[[Rifts]]'' Earth.
* ''[[Spelljammer]]'' has some, mostly dwarves.
== Toys ==
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* [http://www.candystand.com/play/the-space-game The Space Game] is an RTS about mining mineral-rich asteroids and defending your claim from absurdly well-armed pirates.
** If you replace "pirates" with "aliens", ''Space Station: Frontier'' is this for iOS devices. It may not be free, but it has more options. And better graphics.
* A viable, but boring career path in ''[[
** At least until one of the [[Space Pirates]] shows up to ruin your day.
* ''[[
* Also featured in ''[[Freelancer]]'', where it's not quite so boring.
* ''[[Homeworld]]'' had you doing this as well.
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* Mentioned in the Codex of ''[[Mass Effect]]''.
** In [[Mass Effect 1]], almost '''every single''' star system containing an asteroid belt, has at least one asteroid that you can scan, for easy money and XP. Just put the redicle over it, and press one button...
** [[Wretched Hive|Omega
* In ''[[Escape Velocity]] Nova'', you could mine asteroids for water, metal and opals.
*
* Oovo IV in ''[[Star Wars]]: Episode 1 Racer'' is a [[Penal Colony|penal]] asteroid mining colony.
* In peculiar example, the Planetoids map generator for Minecraft creates asteroid-like floating masses which many people usually mine hollow and string minecart tracks between.
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== [[Web
* ''[[Artemis Neo]]'' - The asteroid mining town of West Haven, New Vancouver, Cascadia on the moon Neo Luna II.
* The original purpose of Cielo in ''[[Nexus Gate]]''.
* No small part of the population of ''[[Fenspace]]'' are asteroid miners.
== [[Real Life]] ==
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[[Category:Older Than Radio]]
[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]
[[Category:
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