Asteroids are certainly making a presence this 2013. First, a meteor collided with a Russian city of
The infographic created by 911 Metallurgist became the center of debate on the feasibility and practicability of mining the sky. Entitled “How Asteroids Can Save Mankind” the infographic claims that with the depletion of earth’s resources, mining the sky could save humanity. Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) which can be broken into three categories—C-type, S-type, and M-type asteroids— can supply the earth with such resources as water, methane (natural gas), nitrogen, iron, nickel, Platinum Group Metals, magnesium, and titanium, among others. For example a single asteroid could supply the earth with enough metal for the production of our electronics and jewelry.
The commercialization of space is currently a two-way race
between Planetary Resources Inc. and Deep Space Industries. Planetary
Resources, which is backed by billionaire investors such as Google’s Larry Page
and Eric Schmidt, aims to send robotic landers to space with the aim of
identifying Near-Earth Asteroids and returning them back to earth. The company
also intends to find a way of converting ice found in these asteroids to rocket
fuel in order to reduce the cost of going to space.
Meanwhile, Deep Space Industries plans to launch small satellites which they call “Fireflies” by 2015 to prospect for resources. These “Fireflies,” which would weigh around 55 pounds, would hitch rides in larger satellites. Larger crafts which they call “Dragonflies” will be sent to bring back samples. These samples will identify the type of resources we would be able to harvest from the asteroids. “Dragonflies” are scheduled to start their two- to four- year missions in 2017 and retrieve 60 to 150 pounds of material from these asteroids.
The challenges that space miners face are extraordinary. For starters, the question of cost-effectiveness is paramount. Scientists who are highly skeptical of the idea say that a NASA mission to retrieve two ounces of material from an asteroid would cost a billion dollars. There will also be technical and technological difficulties that space miners will undoubtedly encounter when the time comes to actually mine the asteroid. Although we are still miles away from obtaining the worlds resources from space, these small steps to development are certainly intriguing to read about.
Meanwhile, Deep Space Industries plans to launch small satellites which they call “Fireflies” by 2015 to prospect for resources. These “Fireflies,” which would weigh around 55 pounds, would hitch rides in larger satellites. Larger crafts which they call “Dragonflies” will be sent to bring back samples. These samples will identify the type of resources we would be able to harvest from the asteroids. “Dragonflies” are scheduled to start their two- to four- year missions in 2017 and retrieve 60 to 150 pounds of material from these asteroids.
The challenges that space miners face are extraordinary. For starters, the question of cost-effectiveness is paramount. Scientists who are highly skeptical of the idea say that a NASA mission to retrieve two ounces of material from an asteroid would cost a billion dollars. There will also be technical and technological difficulties that space miners will undoubtedly encounter when the time comes to actually mine the asteroid. Although we are still miles away from obtaining the worlds resources from space, these small steps to development are certainly intriguing to read about.
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