Google cofounder and CEO Larry Page, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, director James Cameron, and others have funded a new company: Planetary Resources Inc.

Its mission: mine asteroids, "add trillions of dollars to the global GDP" and "help ensure humanity's prosperity."

Ross Perot Jr. is also an investor.

There's going to be a press conference on Tuesday in Seattle where the company will explain more.

We can't wait. Our sun is going to explode in a few billion years, and it's never too early to start dealing with that problem. Billionaires who care about technology are exactly the right people to worry about it.

By the way, this is a great sign for Google shareholders. Years past, Schmidt and Page would have used their company's money to work on projects like this. 

Forbes has good story with more details >>

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