For the past decades, the search for useful resources has been a big campaign for many industries. And with the enrichment of science today, schools have been looking forward to new inventions and explorations related to space objects.
Now that technology is advancing in leaps and bounds, the future holds opportunities in the vastness of space exploration.
Apart from space flights, scientists and engineers are also investigating available resources that could be used in the future. An example of this is asteroid mining opportunities.
For someone is never going to happen, for others the sustainable space mining is an eco-friendly choice.
Our species tends to dream big, especially when it comes to space exploration.
Blue Origin recently unveiled its plans for the Blue Moon lander, which aims to “enable a sustained human presence on the Moon”. Besides being a destination, the Moon is also a source of water, which could be electrolysed to produce oxygen and hydrogen for fuel, and possibly HELIUM-3, a fuel source for clean nuclear energy; hence the Moon is a natural stepping stone for space exploration.
NASA is already planning a lunar Gateway — a spacecraft with living quarters, research laboratories and docking points for spaceships — that will orbit the Moon and access the lunar surface.
With the advancement of technology and an increased interest in space exploration, new avenues are slowly opening up for future students.
Learn more: 5 reasons why study space architecture
Space exploration is not just limited to sending satellites and rockets to study what is happening out there. Still, as the human race advances, researchers are turning to space to look for resources that can be put to human use, thus reducing the surmounting pressure on the finite earthly resources we have been using for so many centuries now. A plausible solution is – asteroid mining.
Read more: The Outer Space - Earth’s Future Life Support
The Earth reaches out to space
The future of Earth can depend on what’s in space.
There can be some clues today, but the solutions to problems are already evident. That is, an option to explore and utilize space technology through new technology. It only depends on our hands if these space explorations create a trademark, whether we get materials from there to sustain Earth’s life.
Asteroid mining will be possible in the future with funds and support from space agencies and NASA. A lot of benefits could be obtained from asteroid mining and other dwarf planets orbiting the sun. But, to do so, NASA needs to see to it that advanced technologies and innovations are accomplished as soon as possible.
Preparing to mine asteroids
Mining is searching for essential resources such as minerals, metals, water, renewable and non-renewable elements used for manufacturing industries.
Machines are used to extract these minerals safely.
This process is also applicable outside the Earth.
There are asteroids around the Sun’s orbit, and according to scientists, there are approximately 800,000 of them and could be more than a million asteroids. These are made up of rocks, and many of them are just hanging around Mars and Jupiter.
These space rock formations reflect how the Earth originated. Their distance from each other, considering their shapes and size, is in kilometres. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx probe is taking advantage of the access and have started measuring and examining the structure of each asteroid. This way, the information gathered is forwarded to the experts and researchers.
In 2022, a mission is set for a space flight. This will determine the potential resources of Psyche, an asteroid that is coursing around Mars and Jupiter. Asteroids can be in rocks, but they could have irons and nickel mixed as the main elements. With this project, researchers have plotted their intelligent guess on what types of equipment can be used to study and mine them in the future.
What are the benefits of asteroid mining?
How will asteroid mining benefit humanity? Water resources: enabling the large-scale exploration of the Solar System. Metal resources: for use in the growing Earth economy. Scientific knowledge: via spacecraft that are dramatically more cost-effective than current systems.
Students can play a huge role to understand the future of space and how it will help planet Earth.
At the Swiss Institute for Disruptive Innovation, we believe that as scientists or engineers, one should use their creativity and profound knowledge in creating effective mining machine designs and can be used at a commercial scale to better human life on Earth. Their machines should be the answer to all asteroid mining problems in the future.
”Allowing students to manifest their interest in space exploration could be of use for a brighter future”.
Pietro Veragouth, Founder and Managing Director at Swiss Institute for Disruptive Innovation
As early as now, they should be exposed to the solar system and its studies so that future researchers can properly define the true goal of asteroid mining: who are the people responsible for it, and how will it affect the Earth’s future.
Keeping it above board
The financial and ecological incentives of space mining make it easy for Pietro Veragouth of the Swiss Institute of disruptive Innovation to pave the path. According to Veragouth:
“It is inevitable that we will move in this direction very soon”.
“As robotics and artificial intelligence improve, and as the environmental impact cost of [these industries] on Earth continues to increase,space-based extraction will become more and more viable. However, there is some concern that without careful transparency and legislative measures, a new industrial space rush could result in unforeseen catastrophe”.
