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Have you ever wondered about the idea of colonizing other planets? Asteroid mining might be crucial for that. We can't afford to transport the necessary oxygen and water on our interplanetary travel because that would be adding a lot of weight to the vehicle and make the spacecraft less efficient. Building a base on Asteroid could also mean refuelling in space which would highly benefit the space journey. Will Asteroid mining work? Is that profitable?
How Asteroid mining will work?
Asteroids are the fragments of the formation of the star systems in the cosmos. They are highly mineral-rich and they are made of stardust, and help together by the gravity of its core. The dimension of the asteroids differs from a few meters to several hundred kilometres. There might be billions of dollars worth of minerals present in the asteroids.
The future of settling on other planets and space travel is highly dependent on this idea as taking fuel only from Earth might not be the best option for interplanetary travel. Building an energy supplying base is going to be crucial and an asteroid might be our best bet. Even the rare metals present on Earth lay abundant on the asteroid and therefore asteroid mining might just boost our economy if we bring the minerals back to Earth.
There are three types of Asteroid found in the observable galaxy:
- C-type: The majority of the asteroids fit into this type of asteroid. They are mainly composed of Hydrogen, helium and other volatile minerals on their core.
- S-type: Around 17 per cent of asteroids come into this category and they are composed of nickel, magnesium and iron.
- M-type: This could be crucial to your purpose as they might have water, gold, platinum and key oxygen.
Why is Asteroid mining Important?
Water is the most important factor for human survival and if the asteroids have them, they are our best bet. Carrying water throughout the journey of the cosmos might be difficult as it might take more space in the spacecraft and would also add a lot of weight to the craft.
If we extract the water from the asteroids, they can act as a water source for passengers on Interplanetary travel. Not only that, hydrogen and oxygen could be also used as rocket fuel, so we might have actually found a fuel point in the asteroids. Heavy and rare minerals could be used for the construction of rockets and spacecraft.
The mining of Asteroid could also provide us with the economic boost and abundant mineral resources that were rare on Earth. The government may not be interested in space exploration because space exploration is considered to be a waste of money. But Asteroid mining might change their view, the income generated by space tourism is going to be phenomenal. NASA has predicted that the asteroids present in the nearest asteroid belt might be worth $100 billion. This number is definitely going to fascinate some public. But now only the private organizations are involved in this.
Will Asteroid mining work?
The setting up of Asteroid mining could be very expensive, the reward is worth the risk. We could generate a lot of revenue from these minerals once extracted and transported to the Earth. Going back to the question Asteroid mining is definitely going to work, but time is the only question that is to be asked.
It is likely that the mining tools will be powered by solar arrays as we can't afford to transport the fuel for them and it is unlikely humans will be involved in the mining process. AI robotic tools might be used because we can't have the luxury of transporting humans and feeding them in the Asteroids and also using robots would reduce the cargo.
Strip mining is a common mining technique on Earth and it is likely to be followed on the Asteroids. The process of mining might be easier because of the low gravitational pull applied to the tools and machinery. The minerals mined will be ferried to our planet by another spacecraft. The lack of gravity on the asteroid is likely to be an advantage for our mining. This is how space mining might be done in the future.
Sadly, no companies have long term plans for Asteroid mining, but it could open up an economic burst in our society. Nobody is ready to take that risk just yet. The infrastructure required to mine is not ready yet and it won't be prepared in the future as there are only short term plans by the private space organizations. So the likelihood of mining the minerals from the asteroid is not going to be possible at least in this decade.
