The current cost of space travel, on a price per mass basis, is astronomically high. All puns aside, this is a major economic barrier that must be overcome. If we are to send humans to Mars, or anyplace really, we’ re going to have to lower the cost of space travel. Companies are already looking towards cutting down launch costs, but there still exists the problem of mass. Currently we are limited only to what we can throw up there, so our ships must carry everything with them, including fuel. If we could build spacecraft up there, or process fuel in deep space, we could reduce mission cost significantly.
That’ s when we look up, seemingly towards the stars, but more specifically, towards the asteroids that scatter the solar system. We’ ve known about their properties for years, with meteorites containing rare metals and comets spewing water across the sky. They’ re fragments of our early universe, remnants of a young system that never had a chance to harbor life. And now they’ re all ours.
A closer look at these rocks shows us an astonishing amount of diversity, and even greater potential. Their compositions spread over the periodic table, and their sizes range from pebbles to miniature worlds. Mining these asteroids will be an enormous challenge, but one that humanity is willing to take on. It starts with slow steps, with minimal funding, working towards a vision of a fully functional space economy. However before we can mine these asteroids, we must look to understand them.
The Arkyd 6 spacecraft, with the first ever commercial thermographic sensor, is ready for delivery to the launch pad for launch this year. Credit: Planetary Resources
NASA is where must turn to get some answers. Asteroids are very difficult to study, and since most research has been limited to what lands on Earth, there are still many unanswered questions. Soon, we may finally get some answers. Launching in September of 2016, OSIRIS-REx will begin its seven year mission to a carbonaceous asteroid to study it in detail, and then send a sample return mission back to Earth for further evaluation. This is a crucial first step, but its purpose is scientific, not industrial. If we’ re going to start prospecting asteroids then the private sector needs to get involved. The good news is, this already happened.
Two companies, Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries, are embracing the possibilities at hand, and hope to be a part of what could very much be the next gold rush. Each company is in the process of designing
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