This left the crust depleted of such valuable elements until a rain of asteroid impacts re-infused the depleted crust with metals like gold, cobalt, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, osmium, palladium, platinum, rhenium, rhodium, ruthenium and tungsten (some flow from core to surface does occur, e.g. Īlthough asteroids and Earth accreted from the same starting materials, Earth's relatively stronger gravity pulled all heavy siderophilic (iron-loving) elements into its core during its molten youth more than four billion years ago. Hypothetically, water processed from ice could refuel orbiting propellant depots. Minerals in space Īs resource depletion on Earth becomes more real, the idea of extracting valuable elements from asteroids and returning these to Earth for profit, or using space-based resources to build solar-power satellites and space habitats, becomes more attractive. These materials include free-metals, volatiles, and bulk dirt. In the same decade, NASA is trying to establish what materials in asteroids could be valuable for extraction. These reasons tend to revolve around environmental concerns, such as fears over humans over-consuming the Earth's natural resources and trying to capture energy from the Sun in space. New reasons emerge for pursuing asteroid mining. Hayabusa2 asteroid sample-return mission (3 December 2014 - 5 December 2020)
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Organizations like NASA begin to formulate ideas of how to process materials in space and what to do with the materials that are hypothetically gathered from space. However, by the late 1980s the interest in the Apollo and Amor asteroid groups is being replaced with interest in the moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos. The idea of targeting the Apollo and Amor asteroid groups still had some popularity. The 1980s Īcademic interest in asteroid mining continued into the 1980s. ĭespite the wave of interest, many in the space science community were aware of how little was known about asteroids and encouraged a more gradual and systematic approach to asteroid mining. These groups were chosen not only because of their proximity to Earth but also because many at the time thought they were rich in raw materials that could be refined. In particular, the asteroid groups Apollo and Amor were considered. A good deal of serious academic consideration was aimed at mining asteroids located closer to Earth than the main asteroid belt. As the decade continued, more and more academic interest surrounded the topic of asteroid mining. The 1969 Moon Landing spurred a wave of scientific interest in human space activity far beyond the Earth's orbit. At the same time, many researchers in academia speculated about the profits that could be gained from asteroid mining, but they lacked the technology to seriously pursue the idea. Stories such as Worlds of If, Scavengers in Space, and Miners in the Sky told stories about the conceived dangers, motives, and experiences of mining asteroids. 10 Research missions to asteroids and cometsīefore 1970, asteroid mining existed largely within the realm of science fiction.Ideas of which asteroids to prospect, how to gather resources, and what to do with those resources evolve over the decades.
The history of asteroid mining is brief but features a gradual development. Īfter a burst of interest in the 2010s, asteroid mining ambitions have shifted to more distant long-term goals and some 'asteroid mining' companies have pivoted to more general-purpose propulsion technology.
Asteroid research missions are complex endeavors and return a tiny amount of material (less than 1 milligram Hayabusa, 100 milligrams Hayabusa2, 60 grams planned OSIRIS-REx) relative to the size and expense of these projects ($300 million Hayabusa, $800 million Hayabusa2, $1.16 billion OSIRIS-REx). In progress missions promise to increase this amount to approximately 60 grams (two ounces). As of 2021, less than 1 gram of asteroid material has been successfully returned to Earth from space. Notable asteroid mining challenges include the high cost of spaceflight, unreliable identification of asteroids which are suitable for mining, and the challenges of extracting usable material in a space environment.Īsteroid sample return research missions (see completed missions Hayabusa and Hayabusa2 and in-progress OSIRIS-REx) illustrate the challenges of collecting ore from space using current technology. Overview of the Inner Solar System asteroids up to the Jovian System.Īsteroid mining is the hypothetical exploitation of materials from asteroids and other minor planets, including near-Earth objects.