Asteroid Mining

Introduction

We are using lots and lots of resources every day unlimitedly. Just thinking about the resources by the way and curious to write this post about one of the techniques we are trying to extract the resources. If you take one of the most populated countries like India, about 70% of natural resources have been overconsumed the report of WWF in 2018. So we will be in trouble in the later years. The researchers are finding different ways the extraction the resources. One of the extraction of resources that can be done in space is ‘Asteroid Mining.

Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun. Although asteroids orbit the Sun like planets, they are much smaller than planets.

What does it mean?

Asteroid mining is the extraction of crude materials from asteroids and other minor planets, including close Earth objects.

What’s the purpose?

The elements needed for modern industry and the production of food, as estimated could be exhausted within 50 to 60 years. Hard to hear But that’s the truth. The elements include copper antimony, zinc, tin, lead, indium, silver, gold, and phosphorus. It has been suggested that valuable elements like platinum, cobalt and more from the asteroids may be mined and sent to earth for many purposes like building solar-power satellites and space habitats, and water processed from ice to refuel orbiting propel like ant depots and most importantly profit.

Img: A Mars habitat in conjunction with other surface elements on Mars (artwork) - NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Which one?

There are many asteroids wandering in space. But which asteroids are we going to exploit?

A significant factor to consider in target determination is orbital financial aspects, specifically the adjustment in speed (Δv) and travel time to and from the objective. A greater amount of the removed local material must be consumed as fuel in higher Δv directions, along these lines less returned as payload. Direct Hohmann directions are quicker than Hohmann directions helped via planetary as well as lunar flybys, which thus are quicker than those of the Interplanetary Transport Network, yet the decrease in move opportunity arrives at the expense of expanded Δv prerequisites.

Img: Animation depicts a mapping of the positions of known near-Earth objects - NASA/JPL-Caltech, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Woah! Let’s not dive much into physics.

Researchers found three main types of asteroids. They are

• C-type asteroids have a high wealth of water which isn’t as of now of utilization for mining, however could be used in an exploration effort beyond the asteroid. Strategic could be diminished by utilizing accessible water from the space rock. C-type space rocks likewise have a great deal of natural carbon, phosphorus, and other key elements for compost which could be utilized to develop food.
• S-type space rocks convey little water however look progressively alluring because they contain various metals including nickel, cobalt, and increasingly important metals, for example, gold, platinum, and rhodium. A little 10-meter S-type space rock contains around 650,000 kg (1,433,000 lb) of metal with 50 kg (110 lb) as uncommon metals like platinum and gold.
• M-type space rocks are uncommon yet contain up to multiple times more metal than S-types.

What about Mining?

There are three alternatives for Mining

• Carry crude asteroidal material to Earth for use.
• Procedure on location to bring back just prepared materials, and maybe produce fuel for the arrival trip.
• Transport the asteroid to a safe orbit around the Moon or Earth or the ISS. This can theoretically take into consideration most materials to be utilized and not squandered.

The extraction techniques include surface mining, shaft mining, magnetic rakes, heating, and some processes. If you’re interested to know more visit Asteroid mining techniques.

Is that possible?

Well, the theories are apart… But is that possible with the technology that we have today?

Yes, it’s possible by Utilizing flow or prospective innovation, the space rock could be brought, and afterward stored into a high lunar circle utilizing a container-like automated rocket controlled by a solar electric propulsion system. Moreover, such an endeavor “may be essential technically and programmatically for the success of both near-term and long-term human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit,” as the KISS report says.

Img: An artist’s illustration of an asteroid retrieval spacecraft capturing a 500-ton asteroid that is about 7 meters wide. (Image credit: Rick Sternbach/Keck Institute for Space Studies)

Economic concern

But the main concern is the economy. The Asteroid Capture and Return mission and how to move an asteroid weighing about 1.1 million-pound (500,000 kilograms) to a high lunar orbit by the year 2025. The mission’s cost is expected to be $2.6 billion to the study by KISS. That’s a lot!

But still, many companies like Planetary Resources, Deep Space Industries, and more are working on these huge projects.

Conclusion

Asteroid mining is a long-term proposition, and its commercial viability will depend on a number of factors, including the development of new technologies, the availability of capital, and the political and economic stability of the Earth. But lets just save the resources on earth.

[Previously published on Zeronite]