Asteroid mining is the process of mining raw materials from an asteroid and take them to earth or use them in space for in-situ utilization (in situ resource utilization ISRU is defined as "the collection, processing, storing and use of materials encountered in the course of human or robotic space exploration that replace materials that would otherwise be brought from Earth.).These materials could be: gold, iridium, silver, osmium, palladium, platinum, rhenium, rhodium, ruthenium and tungsten these will be taken back to Earth; iron, cobalt, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, aluminum, and titanium could be used for construction; water and oxygen to sustain astronauts; as well as hydrogen, ammonia, and oxygen for use as rocket propellant.
Based on our terrestrial reserves and our growing consumption in our world. The basic materials used in our modern industry could run out in about 50 to 60 years. These include phosphorus, antimony, zinc, tin, lead, indium, silver, gold and copper. That’s why it has been suggested that platinum, cobalt and other valuable elements from asteroids may be mined and sent to Earth for profit ,used to build solar-power satellites and space habitats and water processing from ice to refuel orbiting propellant depots.
One of the most important factor to keep in mind is target selection in orbital economics, in particular, the change in velocity (Δv) and travel time to and from the target.
Asteroids near to earth are most likely the first candidates for early mining activity. Because of their low Δv they are the most suitable for the use in extracting construction materials for near-Earth space-based facilities, greatly reducing the economic cost of transporting supplies into Earth orbit.
“C-type asteroids: have a high abundance of water which is not currently of use for mining but could be used in an exploration effort beyond the asteroid. Mission costs could be reduced by using the available water from the asteroid. C-type asteroids also have a lot of organic carbon, phosphorus, and other key ingredients for fertilizer which could be used to grow food.
S-type asteroids: carry little water but look more attractive because they contain numerous metals including: nickel, cobalt and more valuable metals such as gold, platinum and rhodium. A small 10-meter S-type asteroid contains about 650,000 kg 1,433,000 lb) of metal with 50 kg (110 lb) in the form of rare metals like platinum and gold.
M-type asteroids: are rare but contain up to 10 times more metal than S-types.”
On a few type of asteroids, material can be scraped of the surface using a scoop or auger, or for larger pieces, an "active grab”. There is strong evidence that many asteroids have rubble piles, making this approach possible.
A mine can be dug into the asteroid, and the material is going to be extracted through the shaft. This requires precise knowledge to engineer accuracy of astro-location under the surface regolith and a transportation system to carry the desired ore to the processing facility.
Asteroids that contain high metal content may be covered in loose grains that can be collected by a magnet.
For asteroids such as carbonaceous chondrites that contain hydrated minerals, water and other volatiles can be extracted simply by heating.
• OSIRIS-REx – planned NASA asteroid sample return mission (launched in September 2016)
• Hayabusa 2 – ongoing JAXA asteroid sample return mission (arriving at the target in 2018)
• Asteroid Redirect Mission – potential future space mission proposed by NASA (if funded, the mission would be launched in December 2020)
• Fobos-Grunt 2 – planned Roskosmos sample return mission to Phobos (launch in 2024)
Asteroid mining is something we sure will do if we have the resources for it and the money to finance it I hope it won’t take too long anymore because it could change the whole world.
Sources I used:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_situ_resource_utilization
