Asteroid Mining: The Future

Hey_Folks,

When we move to a new house, the first thing we do is explore it and our back yard. A little later, we explore our neighborhood, and eventually our new town, with an eye to seeing what it has to offer. So it is with the planet on which we live. [Earth]

Source: Google Images

Why Asteroids

Today, space travel is similar to attempting to travel from New York to Los Angeles on a single tank of gas while storing 100% of your consumables in your car. It doesn’t have to be that way.

There are over 16,000 near-Earth asteroids that share a similar orbit to Earth. Asteroids contain the resources that make it possible to fuel and sustain life in space, creating a new paradigm of travel and human presence in space.

Source: NASA Artist

Near-Earth Asteroids are Easily Accessible

More accessible than the Moon, near-Earth asteroids are comprised of natural resources that will accelerate humanity’s exploration and development of deep space.

Rich in Resources

There are an estimated two trillion tonnes of water available on near-Earth asteroids. This water can be used to sustain human life and as propellant for spacecraft.

Through an extensive multi-year observational prospecting program, Planetary Resources has selected the most promising, water-rich asteroid targets for the company’s first exploration mission.

Asteroids are objects of fundamental scientific importance for several reasons. They are the remnant debris from the formation of the inner solar system. They offer therefore the unique opportunity to study the original materials and the mechanisms which formed the terrestrial planets. Moreover, they can be the objects of a strong interaction with Earth’s biosphere. Asteroids may have played a role in bringing water and organic substances on the Earth, influencing the formation of life. With catastrophic impacts they may have changed in the past the evolutionary path of life forms and may still constitute a serious threat to the human presence on the planet. Finally, asteroids represent an extraordinary source of minerals which can be exploited for the increasing necessities of our civilization and for the future exploration and colonization of the solar system. 

Mining the asteroids has long been the stuff of science fiction, but is rapidly becoming an engineering reality.[http://www.planetaryresources.com][http:// deepspacein-dustries.com]

Source: Big Think Youtube

The idea that asteroid mining could be a profitable industry in the near future gives the prospecting phase of mining a new urgency. Finding suitable asteroids to mine could well be the bottleneck to developing asteroid resources. 

SO IS THIS GOING TO BE THE NEXT GOLD RUSH?

With that kind of money to be made, it certainly could be. While the upfront investment costs means this won’t be quite the free-for-all of the famous 19th century gold rush, there are plenty of big names — ranging from Elon Musk to Jeff Bezos — who are very, very interested.

Think of it as panning for gold, except with the pans replaced by multimillion dollar space launches.

Source: NASA

Source: NASA

HOW WOULD THE MINING ACTUALLY BE DONE?

Nobody has actually done this yet, so it’s still largely hypothetical. A lot of the same mining technologies which are used on Earth could presumably be employed for extracting materials, depending on their specific requirements. Water, meanwhile, could be extracted through heating materials and then distilling the water vapor.

In conclusion 

Asteroids may be a much better place to get the supplies. Early evidence suggests that there are trillions of dollars' worth of minerals and metals buried in asteroids that come close to the Earth. Asteroids are so close that many scientists think an asteroid mining mission is easily feasible. Several international organizations are developing plans for going up to get these natural space resources.

SIGN ME UP. HOW DO I GET INVOLVED?

Got your eyes on an asteroid-mining fortune, eh? While we’re still a couple of decades (at least) away from the first rocks being mined, there are still ways to get involved.

We are searching for a group of people who are passionately curious on Astroid mining. If you are really interested, just Email me  @ sankeerth.sarvade@gmail.com

References

1. Abell, G. O., Corwin Jr., H. G., & Olowin, R. P. 1989, ApJS, 70, 1
2. Akritas, M. G. & Bershady, M. A. 1996, ApJ, 470, 706
3. B ̈ohringer, H. & Schuecker, P., these proceedings
4. Evrard, A. E. & Henry, J. P. 1991, ApJ, 383, 95
5. Girardi, M., Giuricin, G., Mardirossian, F., Mezzetti, M., & Boschin, W. 1998, ApJ
6. Isobe, T., Feigelson, E. D., Akritas, M. G., & Babu, G. J. 1990, ApJ, 364, 104
7. Navarro, J. F., Frenk, C. S., & White, S. D. M. 1995, MNRAS, 275, 720
8. Reiprich, T. H. & B ̈ohringer, H. 1999, Astron. Nachr., 320, 296
9. Reiprich, T. H. & B ̈ohringer, H. 1999, in 19th Texas Symposium on Relativistic
10. Astrophysics and Cosmology, ed. J. Paul, T. Montmerle, & E. Aubourg
11. Struble, M. F. & Rood, H. J. 1999, ApJS, 125, 35 
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining
13. https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/beginners-guide-to-asteroid-mining/
14. https://science.howstuffworks.com/asteroid-mining.htm
15. https://www.planetaryresources.com
16. http://theconversation.com/mining-asteroids-could-unlock-untold-wealth-heres-how-to-get-started-95675
17. https://interestingengineering.com/mining-in-space-what-it-means-for-the-economy
18. http://www.mining.com/tag/asteroid-mining/