{"id":57859,"date":"2017-04-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-27T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/richardvanhooijdonk.com\/blog\/are-asteroids-the-key-to-the-future-of-humanity\/"},"modified":"2021-05-25T13:43:45","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T11:43:45","slug":"are-asteroids-the-key-to-the-future-of-humanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/en\/are-asteroids-the-key-to-the-future-of-humanity\/","title":{"rendered":"Are asteroids the key to the future of humanity?"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"bold-list\">\n<li>Are planets, moons and asteroids our new flying platinum mines?<\/li>\n<li>All that glitters ain\u2019t gold: there\u2019s water there, too<\/li>\n<li>The Psyche asteroid could be a stepping stone to the outer solar system<\/li>\n<li>Space could be the only insurance we\u2019ve got<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You probably don\u2019t give asteroids much thought unless the media reports one passing \u2018near\u2019 Earth. And a massive asteroid impact is truly a doomsday scenario. But asteroids aren\u2019t just a threat; they may well be the key to humanity\u2019s future. As we race to consume scarce resources here on Earth, we\u2019re killing ourselves as surely as an asteroid impact killed the dinosaurs, just not as quickly. Finding an alternative source for the materials we need is a priority. Asteroids, it turns out, are often giant clusters of the rare metals we mine at incredible environmental cost. Sourcing these substances in space could help us slow or reverse <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/en\/blog\/climate-engineering-may-be-our-only-hope-against-global-warming-but-its-a-risky-proposition\/\">global warming<\/a>. Moreover, they contain the components of the fuel spacecraft need to reach and extract them, making the economics of developing space mining technology more than merely attractive.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Are asteroids the key to the future of humanity?\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/W8UJhI5rNWw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>But the mineral wealth space mining can produce pales in comparison to the real value of asteroids as sources of water to power deep space exploration. As visionaries like <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/en\/blog\/stephen-hawking-a-brilliant-cosmologist-who-encouraged-everyone-to-explore-and-understand\/\">Stephen Hawking<\/a> warn, while we\u2019re slowly destroying our planet, the probability of a cosmic disaster over the long-term is high. Even if we change our habits, the Earth is a limited-time refuge for humanity. Our future as a species requires that we explore space.<\/p>\n\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"section\" data-elementor-id=\"70853\" class=\"elementor elementor-70853 elementor-70829\" data-elementor-post-type=\"elementor_library\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-43b2efb elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"43b2efb\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;jet_parallax_layout_list&quot;:[{&quot;_id&quot;:&quot;9ae759c&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_image&quot;:{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;},&quot;jet_parallax_layout_image_tablet&quot;:{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;},&quot;jet_parallax_layout_image_mobile&quot;:{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;},&quot;jet_parallax_layout_speed&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;%&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:50,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;jet_parallax_layout_type&quot;:&quot;scroll&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_direction&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_fx_direction&quot;:null,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_z_index&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_bg_x&quot;:50,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_bg_x_tablet&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_bg_x_mobile&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_bg_y&quot;:50,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_bg_y_tablet&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_bg_y_mobile&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_bg_size&quot;:&quot;auto&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_bg_size_tablet&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_bg_size_mobile&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_animation_prop&quot;:&quot;transform&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_on&quot;:[&quot;desktop&quot;,&quot;tablet&quot;]}],&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-61c0828\" data-id=\"61c0828\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-475a287 elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"475a287\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;jet_parallax_layout_list&quot;:[{&quot;jet_parallax_layout_image&quot;:{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;},&quot;_id&quot;:&quot;4ce4666&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_image_tablet&quot;:{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;},&quot;jet_parallax_layout_image_mobile&quot;:{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;},&quot;jet_parallax_layout_speed&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;%&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:50,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;jet_parallax_layout_type&quot;:&quot;scroll&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_direction&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_fx_direction&quot;:null,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_z_index&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_bg_x&quot;:50,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_bg_x_tablet&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_bg_x_mobile&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_bg_y&quot;:50,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_bg_y_tablet&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_bg_y_mobile&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_bg_size&quot;:&quot;auto&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_bg_size_tablet&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_bg_size_mobile&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_animation_prop&quot;:&quot;transform&quot;,&quot;jet_parallax_layout_on&quot;:[&quot;desktop&quot;,&quot;tablet&quot;]}]}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-81ee5fa\" data-id=\"81ee5fa\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-efaa9f9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"efaa9f9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Free trendservice<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-478f7f9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"478f7f9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tReceive the latest insights, research material, e-books, white papers and articles from our research team every month, for free!\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-295c76f\" data-id=\"295c76f\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3a675f2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"3a675f2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<!-- SharpSpring Form for Newsletter  -->\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    var ss_form = {'account': 'MzawMLEwtzQwAgA', 'formID': 'SzVPSzMyMrfUNTM0TNM1sTRK0k0yM0nSTUk0TUwxSU41TEw1BAA'};\n    ss_form.width = '100%';\n    ss_form.domain = 'app-3QNPVMFZ4W.marketingautomation.services';\n    \/\/ ss_form.hidden = {'field_id': 'value'}; \/\/ Modify this for sending hidden variables, or overriding values\n    \/\/ ss_form.target_id = 'target'; \/\/ Optional parameter: forms will be placed inside the element with the specified id\n    \/\/ ss_form.polling = true; \/\/ Optional parameter: set to true ONLY if your page loads dynamically and the id needs to be polled continually.\n<\/script>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/koi-3QNPVMFZ4W.marketingautomation.services\/client\/form.js?ver=2.0.1\"><\/script>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n<h2>Are planets, moons and asteroids our new flying platinum mines?<\/h2>\n<p>Planets, moons, and asteroids offer incredible mineral wealth to the companies that first develop the expertise and tech to exploit them. With little to no competition, and with rare metals like platinum and palladium abundant and accessible, experts think that the early days of space mining will resemble the gold rush of the 19th century, fueling a new era of exploration. Planetary Resources, a space mining startup with support from Google\u2019s Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, as well as the backing of the government of Luxembourg, recently valued the mineral content of just one asteroid at $5 trillion. Designated 2011 UW158, think of this floating chunk of rock and metal as a flying platinum mine. Asteroids like this one &#8211; nearer the sun than Mars &#8211; tend to be rich in rare metals, offering enticing targets for businesses with the acumen to exploit them.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of transporting these materials to Earth, Chris Lewicki, the president and CEO of Planetary Resources, believes that the future of space mining is in orbit. Given the cost of sending commercial payloads into space, he envisions space-based construction instead. Using large-scale 3D printers, nearly anything we need for exploration could be constructed there. And once in orbit, Lewicki says, \u201cyou are halfway to anywhere in the Solar System.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But as potentially profitable as platinum and titanium are, there\u2019s an even more valuable commodity waiting in space: water. The chief operating officer of Shackleton Energy, Jim Keravala, is another pioneer in space mining. He\u2019s assessing its viability, but it\u2019s the moon and the water ice trapped in its cratered surface and hidden from the sun in deep pools of permanent shadow that capture his interest.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_32767\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32767\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-32767 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/05\/asteroid-mines-1.jpg\" alt=\"A man-made satellite installed on an asteroid, and a few others floating in space around it\" width=\"800\" height=\"325\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-32767\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Planets, moons, and asteroids offer incredible mineral wealth to the companies that first develop the expertise and tech to exploit them.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>All that glitters ain\u2019t gold: there\u2019s water there, too<\/h2>\n<p>To understand why, it\u2019s important to realise that a single astronaut in the International Space Station requires nearly 117 kg of water per month. That may not sound like much, but every drop must be ferried from the earth to orbit, and all that weight is expensive. For future explorers, the price and logistics of moving water to space presents an insuperable barrier; the cost of sending a six-month supply of the life-sustaining liquid to Mars, for instance, approaches $50 million. Consider that the journey to the Red Planet is longer than that, and you begin to see the challenges involved. Indeed, it\u2019s not just that finding an extraterrestrial source starts to make financial sense, it\u2019s a necessity for human space exploration.<\/p>\n<p>To send a rocket into space, engineers need to generate incredible thrust. The larger and heavier the rocket, the more energy is required. While this sounds simple enough, that energy comes from rocket fuel, which itself is heavy. Filling a rocket with water for the crew and then adding fuel to lift that liquid quickly reaches a point of diminishing return. This leads directly to a counter-intuitive figure: the vast majority &#8211; more than 90 percent &#8211; of the weight of a spacecraft is fuel. For journeys to even our closest neighbours like Mars, it isn\u2019t possible to carry enough, because of the fuel needed to lift the fuel\u2026 a cruel paradox of planetary physics.<\/p>\n<p>But we can turn physics to our advantage. A better strategy is to minimise the initial weight of the spacecraft, making it easier (and much, much cheaper) to get into space. Once in orbit, water mined from the moon could be converted into rocket fuel through electrolysis, a process in which water is split into its component hydrogen and oxygen. As experts agree, if we want to explore Mars and the rest of the solar system, it simply isn\u2019t practical to do so from Earth\u2019s surface &#8211; but physics is on our side in space. What we need are low Earth orbit (LEO) fueling stations, basically gas stations between the Earth and the moon, gas stations that can fuel our spacecraft where the weight won\u2019t matter, supplying the astronauts who pilot them with the water and oxygen they need to live.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Asteroid Mining\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3-3DjxhGaUg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>The Psyche asteroid could be a stepping stone to the outer solar system<\/h2>\n<p>But as we go deeper into space, these LEO stations won\u2019t be enough. For many years, 16 Psyche, a massive asteroid that shows signs of being the iron core of a protoplanet, was the topic of conversation for space-mining experts. The only such asteroid yet found, 16 Psyche is not only a scientific curiosity, it\u2019s also a testing ground for the potential of mining in space. In October, 2016, the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility detected the presence of water (or hydroxyl ions) on the asteroid, probably as the result of impacts with smaller, water bearing asteroids. The US based space agency has approved a mission set to launch in October, 2023, and arrive sometime in 2030. As Lindy Elkins-Tanton, NASA\u2019s lead investigator on the project, explains, &#8220;If we go there and we discover it&#8217;s easily minable and it has mineral resources that could be converted to water, then Psyche could be the perfect stepping stone to the outer solar system.\u201d 16 Psyche, then, could be used as a second refueling stop for deep space exploration, extending our potential reach into the solar system.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, researchers are hard at work on the tech we\u2019ll need to exploit asteroids for their water. The Spider Water Extraction System is a result of collaboration between NASA, KSC Swampworks, Honeybee Robotics, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The SPIDER is a lightweight spacecraft capable of landing on an asteroid and taking icy soil samples. It can extract the water from them before disposing of the dry soil that remains. Projects like the SPIDER and NASA\u2019s Psyche are leading the way into deep space.<\/p>\n<h2>Space could be the only insurance we\u2019ve got<\/h2>\n<p>Most people don\u2019t think of space exploration as a priority. But as Stephen Hawking, the noted physicist and master of all things mathematical, warns, \u201c&#8230;the long-term future of the human race must be in space. It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster on planet Earth in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand, or million. The human race shouldn&#8217;t have all its eggs in one basket, or on one planet.\u201d Developing colonies on Mars or the moon isn\u2019t just good science, it\u2019s smart insurance against global catastrophe.<\/p>\n<p>But to reach for the stars, we need to set our sights on unsightly hunks of space rock first. In the frozen vastness between the Sun and Mars, ice-bearing asteroids promise the mineral wealth to spur private exploration and the water we need to colonise the solar system and secure the future of the human race. The first steps in this direction have already begun with investments in technology that can realise this dream.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are planets, moons and asteroids our new flying platinum mines? All that glitters ain\u2019t gold: there\u2019s water there, too The Psyche asteroid could be a stepping stone to the outer solar system Space could be the only insurance we\u2019ve got You probably don\u2019t give asteroids much thought unless the media reports one passing \u2018near\u2019 Earth. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45220,"parent":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2871],"tags":[4335,4336,4553],"article-type":[],"trends":[],"class_list":["post-57859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-asteroid","tag-minerals","tag-space-en-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57859"},{"taxonomy":"article-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-type?post=57859"},{"taxonomy":"trends","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richardvanhooijdonk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trends?post=57859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}