UNSEALING THE STOREROOMS OF THE UNIVERSE. MINING IN SPACE

The gradual depletion of minerals that has been taking place for several decades now raises the question of the search for and subsequent development of alternative energy sources to those on Earth. According to many scientists and public figures, one of these sources in the near future may be space, namely the planets of the Solar System and asteroids, which are found in large numbers in near-Earth space.

Talks about the depletion of natural resources on Earth have been going on for a long time, and they often have an objective basis. According to the latest data from the International Energy Agency, at current rates, coal production will last for 270 years, oil for 45 years, natural gas for 40 years, and iron ore for 250 years. Therefore, attention to space as a potential source of raw materials is steadily increasing, especially since in 2010 the Japanese Hayabusa spacecraft delivered to Earth the first soil sample from an asteroid, in which traces of platinum group metals were found.

Indeed, the Moon, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, other planets, and asteroids have water, a variety of gases, and metals. For example, in two regions of the Moon, in the Sea of Tranquility and in the Ocean of Storms, there are deposits of helium-3 and helium-4 — 210,000 tons and 560 million tons, respectively. Significant reserves of titanium and water have been explored. On Venus, in the last century, the Soviet research devices Venera-13, Venera-14 and Vega-2 found deposits of silicon, aluminum, magnesium, iron, calcium, potassium, titanium, manganese, lead, bismuth and sulfur.

At the same time, there are obstacles that can hinder potential prospectors. In 1967, the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space was signed, which restricts the use of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes only and prohibits claims to the possession of a space body or part thereof. Climate features can also become a serious obstacle: if we consider Venus, for example, the average temperature of 460 ° C, the atmosphere of carbon dioxide and sulfur rains will not allow equipment and people to hold out for more than a few hours.

Asteroids Will Help Us

Based on this, many suggest mining not on planets, but on asteroids — small celestial bodies that appeared during the formation of the solar system more than 4.6 million years ago and since then have been orbiting the sun with the planets. Currently, between 700,000 and 1.7 million asteroids are located between Jupiter and Mars, they can also be found near the Sun, near Neptune, and about 9,000 pass near the Earth's orbit.

Most of them consist of silicate minerals and carbonaceous compounds, which can be sources of iron, titanium, nickel, cobalt, platinum group metals, gold, manganese. In 2023, as part of the space exploration program, NASA plans to send a space probe to one of the most famous asteroids, Psyche. Preliminary radar and spectral studies have shown that it contains iron, nickel, gold, as well as platinum group metals.

In addition to metals, many asteroids contain ice, from which oxygen and hydrogen can be obtained, which are part of breathing mixtures for astronauts, as well as rocket fuel. In 2020, Planetary Resources planned to start creating a kind of warehouse on asteroids, where spacecraft flying to the planets of the Solar System could replenish their supplies of oxygen and hydrogen. But it was not possible to complete the project.

The baton was taken over by the Californian company AstroForge. Already this year, it will send into orbit two special devices to work out mining on asteroids: the first will test equipment for processing the soil of asteroids, and the second will study one of the asteroids for the presence of platinum group metals there: rhodium, ruthenium, palladium, osmium, iridium, platinum. If successful, AstroForge plans to extract and deliver the first batch of metals to Earth by the end of 2030.

First steps

In general, today the issue of mining on celestial bodies is only at the stage of research and discussion - too many problems need to be solved. For example, there are no technologies that would make it possible to deliver such heavy cargo to Earth and at the same time land safely, there is no appropriate infrastructure in space and on Earth, and the issue of choosing a suitable technology has not been finally resolved.

However, interest in this topic has only grown over the years. Already in 2012, the company Planetary Resources was founded in the United States, which began studying the composition and orbital parameters of all near-Earth asteroids. In 2013, Deep Space Industries was created, which is engaged in the creation of reconnaissance satellites, giant transporters, space enrichment plants that could extract, process, store and sell all the extracted material.

In 2015, the United States, then Luxembourg, the UAE, Japan and a number of other countries adopted relevant laws that allowed companies to extract minerals from celestial bodies. Commercial enterprises were allowed to transport, use and sell them.

Research and development continues, so it may be that in five to ten years we will see space metals in all their splendor. The information is taken from the portal