Asteroid Mining: Mining Upwards
By Aaron Zhao
The exploitation of metals is indispensable to producing industrial commodities, building infrastructure and soon, space colonies. As one can infer, these metals are required in large amounts every year. However, this great demand causes us to use methods of extracting metals that are fraught with problems. Currently, we satiate our needs for more metals by mining, which comes with too many environmental impacts like soil erosion and air pollution. In addition, the rate at which we are extracting is shrinking terrestrial reserves. However, the truth is, metals aren’t all found below the ground. Some are found up there, in space.
The origins and growth of asteroid mining
First discovered in Garrett P. Serviss’ story Edison’s Conquest of Mars, asteroid mining soon became a well-known topic in the science fiction world, even being incorporated into the storyline of the renowned 1979 movie, Alien. In 2003, the concept even became a part of a MMO video game, EVE Online. However, despite these emergences of asteroid mining, it has only received ephemeral attention. Overall, asteroid mining is not as well known as other topics covered by this series, like steampunk.
3 types of asteroids
Asteroids aren’t merely just lumps of rock, drifting aimlessly in outer space. They are classified into three different classes of asteroids, each with its unique characteristics and composition. This knowledge is crucial to the future asteroid mining industry, as it serves as a pointer to what types of asteroids mining companies should target to extract the certain materials.
1. C-type asteroids
As the most common type of known asteroids, C-type makes up nearly 75% of known asteroids and collectively inhabits the asteroid belt’s outer region. These carbonaceous rocks consist of clay and silicate rocks, and are estimated to contain up to 22% water.
2. S-type asteroids
This type of asteroids gets its name from its siliceous composition, being mostly composed of silicates and nickle-iron. With an astronomical albedo of 0.20, S-type asteroids are relatively bright and reside on the inner region of the asteroid belt.
3. M-type asteroids
The least common asteroid, M-type are either a congregation of nickel-iron and stone or pure nickel-iron. One of the most massive asteroids in the asteroid belt is a M-type, 16 Psyche. This gargantuan, metal asteroid is proposed to be composed of 90% metal and 10% silicate rock, somewhere perhaps mining could take place…?
What have scientists done that contribute to the realization of asteroid mining?
The “closed out” Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) directed by NASA was probably one of the closest operations that resemble a prototype of asteroid mining (if only it was funded and actually happened which it did not). Essentially, the ARM was a robotic mission where a spacecraft would target a great near-Earth asteroid and retrieve a boulder from it with grippers. Following this, a planetary defense technique would take place to secure Earth’s safety, and then the boulder would be released into a lunar orbit called the “Distant Retrograde Orbit”. This may seem like an unexpected move, but NASA has it all planned out. In the 2020s, Orion spacecraft would be sent out to retrieve samples from this boulder.
This is arguably the most rudimentary realization of asteroid mining. Asteroid mining in the future could very likely resemble this: extract large sample/boulder from asteroid, and either import it directly back to Earth or have it analyzed at a research center on the Moon. Who knows?
How expensive would asteroid mining be?
It’s not going to be cheap, primarily because there are so many expensive factors involved in the process. Not only does there have to be spacecrafts flying back and forth, there may also have to be residences on the asteroid for scientists to regulate the day-to-day functioning of the mine and a lot of robotic equipment to extract the metals. In addition, we currently do not possess as advanced of a collection of space technology and thus the ability to asteroid-mine is not yet mature.
In this decade, asteroid mining is not a far-fetched idea when compared to other ideas covered in this series. Of course, with funding and innovation, we’ll be there in no time. But the possibilities asteroid mining gives us is endless, not only for life on Earth, but space exploration into the endless unknown of our universe.