Deep space industries. Moon Express. What Are Asteroids Made Of? What are asteroids made of?
Asteroids are made mostly of rock — with some composed of clay and silicate — and different metals, mostly nickel and iron. But other materials have been found in asteroids, as well. Overview Asteroids are solid, rocky and irregular bodies that are the rocky remnants of the protoplanetary disk of dust and gas that formed around our young Sun over 4.5 billion years ago. Much of the disk coalesced to form the planets, but some of the debris remained. Some of debris was shattered remnants of planetesimals – bodies within the young Sun’s solar nebula that never grew large enough to become planets — and large collisions pulverized these planetesimals while other debris never came together due to the massive gravitational pull from Jupiter.
The various elements that are found in asteroids. Composition An asteroid’s composition is mainly determined by how close it is to the Sun. The platinum group metals are some of the most rare and useful elements on Earth. Gizmodo. The First Trillionaires Will Make Their Fortunes in Space. What's the Big Idea?
Just as explorers during the Age of Discovery established new trade routes in pursuit of resources such as gold, silver and spices, the future explorers of space will be chasing unimaginable riches. As Peter Diamandis told the International Space Development Conference, “There are twenty-trillion-dollar checks up there, waiting to be cashed!” These cosmic cash cows are so-called Near-Earth asteroids that contain a wide range of precious resources. Sure, this may sound a lot like the movie Avatar, in which the RDA Corporation mined the mineral unobtanium on the planet of Pandora. But this is no pie-in-the-sky idea. Peter Diamandis, who founded the non-profit X Prize Foundation to create a rewards incentive program to bring about "radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity," believes the enormous financial opportunities in space will spur innovation.
What's the significance? Why Should I Care? Asteroids represent a dual threat and opportunity for humanity. Precious metal hunters look to outer space. Mining the moon will become a viable venture. As space-based commerce dawns, an ambitious few want to mine the Moon and near-Earth asteroids for precious metals and more.
In May last year, a spacecraft called Dragon made history. Developed by Space X, a California-based private space transport company, the craft became the first commercial spacecraft to ferry cargo between the International Space Station and Earth. With Nasa scheduling a third re-supply mission for 9 December this year, the craft proves that a private space business can succeed. But for many more, commercial space transport is only the beginning. 'We're opening up a whole new world to humanity that has abundant resources that will help project us into a multi-planet species,' says Bob Richards, chief executive of lunar lander developer, Moon Express.
Richards heads up one of a growing band of new and ambitious private organisations that are very serious about mining the 'Moon or mining asteroids. Metal mining Fly me to the Moon.