Chris Lewicki, president and chief engineer of Planetary Resources, speaks at a news conference at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington April 24, 2012. Google Inc executives Larry Page and Eric Schmidt and filmmaker James Cameron are among those bankrolling a venture to survey and eventually extract precious metals and rare minerals from asteroids that orbit near Earth, the company said on Tuesday. Planetary Resources, based in Bellevue, Washington, initially will focus on developing and selling extremely low-cost robotic spacecraft for surveying missions. REUTERS/Cliff Despeaux (UNITED STATES - Tags: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS SOCIETY)