Asteroid Miners: Difference between revisions

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== Film ==

* The entire point of the setting for ''[[Outland (~~Film~~)|Outland]]'' is the mining of rare radioactives on Jupiter's moon, Io.

* The entire point of the setting for ''[[Outland (film)|Outland]]'' is the mining of rare radioactives on Jupiter's moon, Io.

* ''[[~~Moon (Film)|~~Moon]]'' takes place on a Lunar Helium-3 mining colony consisting of one man and a robot.

* ''[[Moon]]'' takes place on a Lunar Helium-3 mining colony consisting of one man and a robot.

* In ''[[Alien]]'', the Nostromo is an ore carrier and processor returning to Earth with a full cargo.

* ''Moon 44'' takes place on an asteroid mining station whose miners are all convicted felons forced to work in the mines as part of their sentences.

* ''[[Moon Zero Two]]'' revolves around a plot to crash an asteroid composed of sapphire into the Moon's surface so it can be more easily mined.

* The crew of the Protector in ''[[~~Galaxy Quest (Film)|~~Galaxy Quest]]'' go down to a planet to find a mining camp, and mistake small aliens for the miners.

* The crew of the Protector in ''[[Galaxy Quest]]'' go down to a planet to find a mining camp, and mistake small aliens for the miners.

* The moon Nazis of ''[[~~Iron Sky (Film)|~~Iron Sky]]'' have prepared for their return to earth by building spaceships and stocking Helium-3.

* The moon Nazis of ''[[Iron Sky]]'' have prepared for their return to earth by building spaceships and stocking Helium-3.

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* ''Catch That Rabbit'' by [[Isaac Asimov]] features a lonely asteroid mining station as the location for an intractable robot mystery and tangle.

** ''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 (~~Literature~~)|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.

* ''[[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.

* ''The Rogue'', a short story by [[Poul Anderson]], features a tense love affair between the owner of an asteroid mine and an officer in Earth's space navy.

** In later stories by Poul Anderson, the various miners of the Asteroid Belt form the Asterite Republic after a full-scale Asterite War Of Independence against the Earth. (The story draws heavily from the US Revolutionary War.)

* 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]].

* ''[[Alliance Union ~~(Literature)~~|Heavy Time]]'' by [[CJ Cherryh]]. Mining of the asteroid belt of Earth's solar system is a critical part of the economy in the 24th century.

* ''[[Alliance Union|Heavy Time]]'' by [[C. J. Cherryh]]. Mining of the asteroid belt of Earth's solar system is a critical part of the economy in the 24th century.

* ''Gray Lensman'', part of [[EE Doc Smith]]'s [[Lensman]] series. Kimball Kinnison goes undercover as asteroid miner Wild Bill Williams to infiltrate a Boskonian drug ring.

* ''Gray Lensman'', part of [[E. E. "Doc" Smith]]'s [[Lensman]] series. Kimball Kinnison goes undercover as asteroid miner Wild Bill Williams to infiltrate a Boskonian drug ring.

* ''Wheelers'' by mathemetician Ian Stewart and biologist Jack Cohen. In a subversion of the usual 'hotheaded, crude roughneck' style of asteroid miners, all the asteroid mining here is done by ''monks.'' Neo-Zen monks. All the solitude, concentration and slowness of the work makes them uniquely suited to it.

* Asteroid miners don't actually make an appearance in [[Ken MacLeod]]'s ''Newton's Wake'', but the folk duo play some of their work songs.

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== Live Action TV ==

* The titular ''[[~~Red Dwarf (TV)|~~Red Dwarf]]'' is a mining ship carrying (and processing) ore on its way back to Earth. At least, that was the plan...

* 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 Reimagined|Battlestar Galactica]]'' episode "The Hand Of God", the Galactica and its fighters attack a Cylon tyllium mine located on an asteroid made almost completely of the stuff.

** 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 [[Asteroid Miners]] in the ''[[Star Trek ~~the~~ Original Series|Star Trek]]'' episode "Operation: Annihilate".

* Montgomery Scott mentions "working the cargo runs, bringing in supplies and taking out cargo" for [[Asteroid Miners]] in the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' episode "Operation: Annihilate".

== Machinima ==

* "Shady" Slater is just settling into mining an asteroid when the "Phantom Fleet" is mobilised in ''[[~~Clear Skies (Fanfic)|~~Clear Skies]] 2''.

* "Shady" Slater is just settling into mining an asteroid when the "Phantom Fleet" is mobilised in ''[[Clear Skies]] 2''.

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* In ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'', the alien race called the Demiurg mostly live in massive ''Stronghold''-class cityships, and tend to survive by asteroid mining. Quite fitting, as they are basically [[Our Dwarves Are All the Same|Dwarfs]] [[Recycled in Space|IN SPACE!]]

** Ironically, they are replacements for the last Dwarves In Space, which were [[Retcon|retconned]] and became the [[Unperson|unmentionables]].

* The ''[[Star Drive]]'' fluff mentions asteroid mining as a common (though dangerous) source of income, especially in frontier regions.

* 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 Playing Game|RPG]] ''Traveller'' is "Belter", their name for asteroid miner.

* ''[[GURPS]]: Spaceships'' has a bunch of asteroid mining ships in the Industry book. Asteroid miners also show up in their ''Transhuman Space'' setting.

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* ''[[Lego Rock Raiders]]'', and the sets it's based on, features a team of miners who are on their way home from another planet when their ship gets hit by an asteroid [[It Got Worse|and]] ''sucked into a wormhole to another galaxy''. They then have to mine a nearby [[Death World]] for Energy Crystals to power their ship and get home. It's essentially a fun [[Troperiffic]] take on the whole [[Asteroid Miners]] concept, with some [[Space Western]] elements thrown in.

* Also featured in ''[[Freelancer]]'', where it's not quite so boring.

* ''[[~~Homeworld (Video Game)|~~Homeworld]]'' had you doing this as well.

* ''[[Homeworld]]'' had you doing this as well.

* ''[[Red Faction]]'' features a cousin of this trope - Mars Miners.

* ''[[Orbiter]]'' has the Jupiter Mining Company in some of it's [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]] scenarios.

* A large amount of the 'ore' collected in [[Conquest Frontier Wars]] comes from asteroids, you can also mine stars for gas.

* ''[[Elite]]''

* The ''[[X (~~Video~~ ~~Game~~)|X]]-Universe'' series has mining elements, mostly consisting of breaking up asteroids with lasers and then collecting the results. Until ''X3: Albion Prelude'', if the mining was done remotely, from another sector, it lead to an infinitely respawning supply. Placing a mining station on the asteroid is more expensive, but is safer, requires less management, and makes more money in the long run.

* The ''[[X (video game)|X]]-Universe'' series has mining elements, mostly consisting of breaking up asteroids with lasers and then collecting the results. Until ''X3: Albion Prelude'', if the mining was done remotely, from another sector, it lead to an infinitely respawning supply. Placing a mining station on the asteroid is more expensive, but is safer, requires less management, and makes more money in the long run.

* 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...

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* In ''[[Space Rangers]]'', the player can "mine" asteroids by blowing them open with specialized lasers (normal weapons tend to vaporize most of the minerals).

* About half the asteroid belts in ''[[Infinite Space]]'' contain mineral-rich asteroids that can be mined for relatively small amounts of money (equivalent to one to four random encounters).

* ''[[~~Star Ruler (Video Game)|~~Star Ruler]]'' allows you to build ships to do this. With the right tech, you can include systems for refining, export and ship construction, creating an independent factory craft.

* ''[[Star Ruler]]'' allows you to build ships to do this. With the right tech, you can include systems for refining, export and ship construction, creating an independent factory craft.

* ''[[~~The Perils of Akumos (Video Game)|~~The Perils of Akumos]]'': You're on a space station orbiting a series of asteroids. You meet many miners, some injured.

* ''[[The Perils of Akumos]]'': You're on a space station orbiting a series of asteroids. You meet many miners, some injured.

* ''[[Wing Commander (~~Video~~ ~~Game~~)|Wing Commander]]: Privateer'' features mining asteroids as one of the basic locations you can visit. Abandoned ones also act as [[Space Pirate]] bases, several of them being relevant to the plot.

* ''[[Wing Commander (video game)|Wing Commander]]: Privateer'' features mining asteroids as one of the basic locations you can visit. Abandoned ones also act as [[Space Pirate]] bases, several of them being relevant to the plot.

* You can do this in ''[[~~Battlestar Galactica Online (Video Game)|~~Battlestar Galactica Online]]'' and it is a [[Boring but Practical]] way of gaining exp. You can also call in mining ships to handle large planetoids, which give better payoff but force a [[Protection Mission]] on you.

* You can do this in ''[[Battlestar Galactica Online]]'' and it is a [[Boring but Practical]] way of gaining exp. You can also call in mining ships to handle large planetoids, which give better payoff but force a [[Protection Mission]] on you.

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* In ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' the Punyverse uses asteroid mining as a common punishment for criminals.

* In [http://theoryofeverythingcomics.com/SNE/index.htm Speak No Evil: Melancholy of a Space Mexican] cheap labor is sent to asteroids and planets for mining.

* Most Belters in ''[[Escape ~~From Terra (Webcomic)|Escape From~~ Terra]]'', though Ceres and a few other asteroids are developed enough to support populations with different professions. Also the source of the mineral wealth that the United World is desperate to get their hands on.

* Most Belters in ''[[Escape from Terra]]'', though Ceres and a few other asteroids are developed enough to support populations with different professions. Also the source of the mineral wealth that the United World is desperate to get their hands on.