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Last Updated:: 15/05/2014
NASA Says Asteroid Mining is Viable
Date: June 11, 2013:
Researchers from NASA say the mining of asteroids and other heavenly bodies for their mineral riches is becoming an increasingly feasible prospect.
A study published by the team in the Journal of Aerospace Engineering entitled Affordable, Rapid Bootstrapping of the Space Industry and Solar System Civilization outlines the potential means by which a self-sustaining asteroid mining industry could develop in order to alleviate humanity’s dependence on the Earth’s increasingly scarce resources.
The paper’s authors point out that recent technological advances and scientific discoveries have made space mining a realistic avenue of development.
These include advances in 3D printing, which can be used to manufacture more sophisticated robotic systems at lower cost, and the discovery that the essential elements necessary for off world manufacturing operations are found in ample abundance in space.
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Phil Metzger, senior research physicist at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
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“Now that we know we can get carbon in space, the basic elements that we need for industry are all within reach,” says physicist Phil Metzger, one of the authors of the study.
“That was game-changing for us.”
3D printers will also permit the manufacture of more complex robots, capable of operating independently in environments where human beings are incapable of venturing.
The paper envisages the gradual development and spread of a space mining industry via a series of finely planned stages.
At the outset, robots will be sent into space to mine either the Moon or close-proximity asteroids, and will use those materials to produce other complex robots in order to reduce the exorbitant cost of launching payloads beyond the reach of Earth’s gravity.
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“The first generation only makes the simplest materials,” says Metzger.
“By making the easiest thing, you’ve reduced the largest amount of mass that you have to launch.”
The robotic systems will then rapidly expand and develop via the independent manufacture of additional components and machinery, including solar cells and gas production equipment.
Rubber and plastic can be manufactured via the combination of carbon with hydrogen, while water ice, recently discovered in bodies near earth, can be utilized as a propellent.
Once the robots have attained a sufficient level of capability they will then be able to mine precious metals for delivery back to earth, via heat shields fashioned from surplus soil.
The the key advantage of the plan devised by the NASA team is the low payload and small number of launches it entails, due to the use of robots to build more complex robots once they leave the earth and access minerals in space.
“We took it through six generations of robotic development, and you can achieve full closure and make everything in space,” Metzger said.
“We showed you can get it down to launching 12 tons of hardware, which is incredibly small.”
Metzger says the development of a space mining industry could have profound implications for the global economy and humanity as a whole given the sheer abundance of resources available in outer space.
“We’re predicting that we are on the verge of the next revolution in human civilization,” he says.
“The asteroid belt has a billion times more platinum than is found on Earth. There is literally a billion times the metal that is on the Earth, and all the water you could ever need.”
By: Marc Howe
(Source: http://designbuildsource.com.au/)