![]() ![]() The Easily Recoverable Object (ERO) subclass of Near-Earth asteroids are considered likely candidates for early mining activity. Direct Hohmann trajectories are faster than Hohmann trajectories assisted by planetary and/or lunar flybys, which in turn are faster than those of the Interplanetary Transport Network, but the reduction in transfer time comes at the cost of increased Δ v requirements. ![]() More of the extracted native material must be expended as propellant in higher Δ v trajectories, thus less returned as payload. Asteroid selection Comparison of delta-v requirements for standard Hohmann transfers MissionĪn important factor to consider in target selection is orbital economics, in particular the change in velocity ( Δ v) and travel time to and from the target. Some astrophysicists have suggested that if advanced extraterrestrial civilizations employed asteroid mining long ago, the hallmarks of these activities might be detectable. įrom the astrobiological perspective, asteroid prospecting could provide scientific data for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence ( SETI). Ice would satisfy one of two necessary conditions to enable "human expansion into the Solar System" (the ultimate goal for human space flight proposed by the 2009 "Augustine Commission" Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee): physical sustainability and economic sustainability. Although whether these cost reductions could be achieved, and if achieved would offset the enormous infrastructure investment required, is unknown. The process of in-situ resource utilization-using materials native to space for propellant, thermal management, tankage, radiation shielding, and other high-mass components of space infrastructure-could lead to radical reductions in its cost. Similarly, Jupiter-family comets, and possibly near-Earth asteroids that are extinct comets, might also provide water. In 2006, the Keck Observatory announced that the binary Jupiter trojan 617 Patroclus, and possibly large numbers of other Jupiter trojans, are likely extinct comets and consist largely of water ice. Hence, the geologic history of Earth may very well set the stage for a future of asteroid mining. Today, these metals are mined from Earth's crust, and they are essential for economic and technological progress. at the Bushveld Igneous Complex, a famously rich source of platinum-group metals). This left the crust depleted of such valuable elements until a rain of asteroid impacts re-infused the depleted crust with metals like gold, cobalt, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, osmium, palladium, platinum, rhenium, rhodium, ruthenium and tungsten (some flow from core to surface does occur, e.g. Īlthough asteroids and Earth accreted from the same starting materials, Earth's relatively stronger gravity pulled all heavy siderophilic (iron-loving) elements into its core during its molten youth more than four billion years ago. Hypothetically, water processed from ice could refuel orbiting propellant depots.
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