Astronomers Find 12 Asteroids Close Enough To Mine. 5 Reasons to Care About Asteroids | Asteroids & Comets | Asteroid Exploration & Space Rocks. Karen Rowan, Life's Little Mysteries Managing Editor | June 25, 2011 03:13pm ET Credit: Emily Lakdawalla/Ted StrykWhile missions to celestial bodies such like Mars or the moon may sound more exciting than a mission to a mere asteroid, scientists say we have much to learn from these irregularly-shaped rocks that roll through our solar system. Here are 5 reasons why we should care about asteroids: Billionaires and Futurists Plan Space Missions to Mine Asteroids for Metals. It’s been long thought, especially in science-fiction, that once Earth’s dwindling metallic resources dry up, the human race would look to the stars for precious metals.
While this has been posited for decades in science-fiction literature, this is the first time that futurists are actually planning missions to harvest asteroids from space for metals. Asteroids contain many tons of precious metals, and that’s why a consortium of wealthy, adventurous entrepreneurs have announced a new venture called Planetary Resources that plans to send swarms of robots into space to scout for asteroids containing precious metals. They state that there are plenty of riches available in the solar system, making the ones on Earth pale in comparison. There are nearly 9,000 asteroids larger than 150 feet in diameter near Earth’s orbit. Some of these should contain as much platinum as is mined in an entire year on Earth, making them worth at least a couple of billion dollars each. [via Wired] Dawn Sees Hydrated Minerals on Giant Asteroid.
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has revealed that the giant asteroid Vesta has its own version of ring around the collar. Two new papers based on observations from the low-altitude mapping orbit of the Dawn mission show that volatile, or easily evaporated materials, have colored Vesta’s surface in a broad swath around its equator. Pothole-like features mark some of the asteroid’s surface where the volatiles, likely water, released from hydrated minerals boiled off. While Dawn did not find actual water ice at Vesta, there are signs of hydrated minerals delivered by meteorites and dust evident in the giant asteroid’s chemistry and geology.
The findings appear today in the journal Science. One paper, led by Thomas Prettyman, the lead scientist for Dawn’s gamma ray and neutron detector (GRaND) at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz., describes how the instrument found signatures of hydrogen, likely in the form of hydroxyl or water bound to minerals in Vesta’s surface. INFOGRAPHIC: Why asteroid mining can create a trillion-dollar industry. Space mining start-up Planetary Resources has put together quite the infographic to explain how asteroid mining will create a trillion-dollar industry. The company says there are over 1,500 asteroids as easy to get to as the surface of the Moon. They are also in Earth-like orbits with small gravity fields, which make them easier to approach and depart. The most important aspect of asteroid mining is that those celestial bodies are platinum-rich. Mining them would come in handy as Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), the world’s top platinum producer by volume, announced Tuesday it is planning to close several of its mines, which would cause a shortage of the precious metal.
(Click on the image to see it full-sized) Amplats shuts mines, axes 14,000 jobs and sends platinum prices skyrocketing>> >> INFOGRAPHIC: Why asteroid mining is necessary>> >> Wanted: Colonists to build first human settlement on Mars>> >> Cecilia Jamasmie Email: cjamasmie@mining.com Cecilia Jamasmie on. 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.