Optical mining avoids the difficult task of landing on an object like asteroid with such low gravity that it will disintegrate if reached
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| [Space Economy : The future of space exploration] |
Read the first chapter : Space Economy : Chapter 1
In our own solar system, asteroids, moons, and planets possess an almost limitless abundance of untapped resources. Some astroids are extremely valuable due to resources such as gold, silver, and rare earth metals, but the most valuable element may be our most essential one.
On the Moon, water will be mined and a fueling station will be built. The first consumers, most likely government departments, will receive water for human consumption as well as fuel for spaceships.
Water-derived fuel may also be harvested on an asteroid, with propellant transport transporting the fuel from the surfaces to a safe storage location between the earth and the moon.
Satellites and other spacecraft will use the fueling station that can be set up in lower Earth orbit. Satellites that run out of fuel are currently decommissioned, but extra fuel will enable them to remain in orbit longer, extending their lifetime.
Since it is costly to bring fuel out of Earth's atmosphere with a rocket, refueling in lower Earth orbit will significantly reduce the scale, type, and expense of space missions. These fuel depots will also support the commercial launch industry, such as SpaceX.
The use of lunar-derived propellant and commodities may also serve as a stepping stone to interplanetary travel.
But, while there has been a resurgence of interest in a Moon, getting there hasn't been easy. Both India and Israel attempted landings on the Moon's surface in 2019, but both failed. Furthermore, the technology to mine and extract these possible water supplies on the Moon and beyond has yet to be demonstrated.
However, some entrepreneurs, such as Honeybee Robotics, remain hopeful. They've engineered drills for NASA's previous Mars missions, and they'll be sending fully autonomous sampling and mining systems to the Moon, Saturn's moon Titan, Mars' moon Phobos, and Jupiter's moon Europa in the future.
Honeybee Robotics has developed the Planetary Volatiles Extractor, or PVEX, for mining and extracting water on the moon. PVEX is capable of mining as well as extracting. It is built on a coring drill, which is a drill that extracts cylinder material.
TransAstra has teamed up with other space start-ups and educational institutions to demonstrate its method for collecting and using water from asteroids without even touching them, thanks to a recent $2 million infusion from NASA. This method is known as 'Optical Mining.'
They've partnered up with the Colorado School of Mine's optical mining test bed to help build and prove this technology. To begin, they placed the simulated asteroid in a vacuum chamber to simulate space conditions. The surface inside the tank, known as a cryo trap, is then cooled with liquid nitrogen.
Then they turn on giant light bulbs that mimic sunlight, which they focus through a spotlight, resulting in extremely high temperatures. When a ray of light strikes the asteroid target, it fragments it, releasing water and other materials that are then frozen in a cryo pit.
Optical mining avoids the difficult task of landing on an object with such low gravity that it will disintegrate if reached. There's also no drill to get stuck with.
However, for their tech demonstrator model, they are targeting tiny asteroids the size of a beach ball. Future versions will be able to handle rocks the size of a cubic tennis court and larger.
TransAstra claims that mining water from asteroids would not only make space travel more accessible for private industry, but will also enable NASA to carry out its planned missions to the Moon, Mars, and even asteroids. Under the constraints of a budget that the US Congress would be able to approve.
All of these will be our next great leap forward, allowing us to decentralise civilization across the universe.
Disclaimer : This article is based on Bloomberg's documentary.