Asteroid mining has fascinated me since I was a child. Several years ago, an asteroid was discovered that is worth quadrillions of dollars as measured by it's estimated precious and rare Earth metal content. Asteroids are also sources of ice which can be electrolyzed into H2 and O2 gas which can power rockets in space. With such amazing resources, why have we need breathlessly pursued asteroid mining?
Recent investments have been made into asteroid mining. If resources exist in space on asteroids, it makes sense that as mining technologies advance and mature that we would seek out and exploit asteroid mining. Another major pro for asteroid mining is that pollution would not present an environmental risk as it does with terrestrial mining. Mining runoff from operations must be managed, as it contains metals and contaminates such as Mercury that can harm life and ecosystems on Earth.
Mining asteroids is a technological feat, and space organizations including NASA are still challenged by the endeavor. The current technology required to land on an asteroid and begin mining operations with robots is quite challenging, but our ability to land on asteroids with probes has matured some in the last decade. It is also economically difficult to assimilate the mined metals into our economy. If quadrillions of rare Earth metals can be found on one asteroid, our current economy must adjust to accommodate the incoming supply and the economic risk to current miners may be substantial.
In the future, we will certainly mine asteroids containing precious and rare Earth metals. It is likely we will also mine asteroids rich in water if we need fuel for our rockets. Resource-rich asteroids exist and are being prospected. Our electric vehicles require rare Earth metals and Cobalt. It is imperative that we develop this technology to reduce pollution from mining on Earth and that we increase the supply of materials that can help us further the green-energy revolution.
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