Are humans about to move to the Moon to mine there?

Asteroid and Moon mining in space will open up opportunities to make millions and billions of dollars for startups.

It cannot be denied that our Earth is facing resource depletion due to overexploitation. It’s time for people to think about a more distant future, that of going to space.

The idea of ​​a resource exploitation zone on the binary asteroid 90 Antiope

The idea of ​​a resource exploitation zone on the binary asteroid 90 Antiope, located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. (Photo: Getty).

According to Mr. Angel Abbud-Madrid, director of the Space Resources Center at the University of Colorado, the idea space exploration were designed decades ago, but most experts say they are unrealistic.

But what is important is that the need for resources, as well as sources of profits amounting to billions, even millions of dollars, has strongly favored space exploration activities, making it a goal, the objective number 1 that many countries are aiming for.

“Space mining has become so powerful that dozens of startups and large companies are participating, addressing aspects of the so-called ‘space resource value chain’.”said Mr. Abbud-Madrid.

Recently, not only the United States and Russia, but also other countries such as China, Korea, Japan, etc. have sought to promote missions to the Moon.

This is proof that in the near future, the value chain of space resources will be closely linked to our Moon, and it will probably be a promising “construction site”.

“The whole world is heading to the Moon. Then there will be asteroids”said Mr. Abbud-Madrid.

Dart Mission

NASA’s DART mission opens many new directions for approaching and managing situations on asteroids (Photo: NASA).

Recently, we have achieved initial successes in this area, including NASA’s NEAR spacecraft discovering the secret of the Eros meteorite in 2001, or Japan obtaining space rock samples from the Hayabusa mission.

More recently, we have Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) of NASA has enjoyed success beyond expectations. The mission confirmed the ability to launch, and even move, a rock in space.

Equally ambitious, OSIRIS-REx spacecraft NASA is on its way back to Earth after collecting samples from the distant asteroid Bennu; Good Lucy probeNASA’s Psyche also aims “new land”.

However, a series of questions have been raised and remain unanswered. Generally: who will obtain the data to locate valuable resources in space? Who will determine the level of material available and refine it? Who will provide transport, electricity and communications?

Added to this are questions related to the legality and sovereignty of each country and organization, so that asteroid mining truly becomes meaningful work.

Article source: Dan Tri