Asteroid Mining is Becoming a Reality - 1941 Words

The issue of asteroid mining used to seem out-of-this-world metaphorically and literally, but today, the issue is slowly becoming reality. As technology and research progress, the pros and cons of asteroid mining have become more apparent. One issue is the way minerals and metals from asteroids will be treated on the market because first, a company or industry must â€Å"claim† an asteroid as theirs for mining. Therefore the questions start appearing, is that ethical, moral, legal? By looking at the gasoline extraction industry and comparing it to the asteroid mining industry, hopefully it will give humanity a glimpse of what could happen if asteroid mining ensues. To better understand the asteroid mining industry, a brief understanding of how asteroids are composed and useful is essential. Asteroids are pieces of rock, mineral, and metal in a compact form. There are an indefinite amount of asteroids in our solar system today and about 9,000-10,000 known around Earth. The exploration of asteroids has found that they contain trillions of dollars worth of minerals and metals including gold, silver, platinum, iron, nickel, water, and hydrogen. These valuable metals, for example platinum, is available up to grades 100 ppm on asteroids, whereas the mines in South Africa contain 5 to 10ppm (Sonter.) Because of the amount of available resources and the quality at which the resources can be found are the obvious reasons why this industry may explode. Asteroid mining is the extraction ofShow MoreRelatedAsteroid Exploration And Utilization By George Botbyl1644 Words   |  7 Pagesis nearing depletion of its natural resources at a time when human beings are rapidly expanding the frontiers of space. The resources which may exist on asteroids could have enormous potential for aiding and enhancing human space exploration as well as life on Earth. With the possibly limitless opportunities that exist, it is clear that asteroids are the next step for human existence in space. The resources of the Earth are not infinite, in fact, some are depletable within the next several decadesRead MoreNasa Announced The End Of The Shuttle Program2109 Words   |  9 Pagespayloads are launched by Arianespace. There exists yet unrealized opportunities in commercial spaceflight. Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, and other companies are offering to fly tourists to space for hefty fees. As mining depletes supplies of rare metals and materials on earth, mining of asteroids and minor planets will become the only way to obtain these materials and will be a very lucrative endeavor Pricing/Cost The current cost of sending payloads into orbit is still quite high. When it was in operation