Mining asteroids for resources interests me because I would consider myself as a heavy consumer of electronic goods such as smartphones and computers and therefore I am keen to know about the future of this technology. At the beginning of my IGCSE Global Perspectives course, we looked at natural resources which I think also contributed to my decision to look into this topic. I would like to be more aware of how much resources currently remain on Earth because the media constantly reports on how little resources we have left. From news articles I have seen so far about asteroid mining, it is seen as a beneficial way for Earth to get resources that we currently have a shortage of. For this project, I will be looking at the current situation of resources, what minerals can be obtained from asteroids, how easy it would be to obtain these resources and how effective asteroid mining would be to solving the current shortage of resources. In my opinion, I believe that this process will significantly contribute to the shortage of resources and it will be very financially beneficial.
Abstract
Asteroid Mining is a proposed solution to the current decline of resources on Earth. As I currently understand this is done by sending a spacecraft capable of mining asteroids, small planets and other near-earth objects such as comets. Once extracting the minerals from these asteroids, they then get sent back to Earth and get used in industrial and consumer goods. I would not consider this
Mining is a perfect example of resource extraction. The products of mining are numerous, and while technically, resources mined can always return to the earth, that could take years. As long as humans stay on the earth, mined resources will stay mined resources. Metals and products taken from the ground are unlikely to be replaced during human existence.
It is a known fact that the Earth’s resources aren’t sustainable, and are depleting at a record rate. It is estimated that 50 years from now, valuable metals and fuels will be completely exhausted due to our expanding expenditure (Cohen, 2007). Without these supplies, mankind’s technological
It is true that some of these resources produce a valuable use such as energy, in the case of petroleum, but we have exploited it too much. We use more than we are supposed until one of these days we ran out of it. We should just live with what we can and what we already have. Also I believe that some other natural resources should remain untouched by the human hands. We need to find a way to protect our environment since this our planet, our only home. We also need to change our characters. Good people still exists in the world nowadays, but the problem is that we care too much about ourselves. We want everything for ourselves. If necessary, we need to go back to the age of the gold race. Where people used to live in peace, used to respect and care for each other, where there was no
My first reason States that mining will affect many jobs including farmers and fishermen. I think this because, without good water, it would be hard for farmers to get good water for irrigating
6. Researches have shown that Antarctica conserves valuable resources; mining should be strictly prohibited in Antarctica.
Although it may seem that we do not have problems in space, we actually do, asteroids are coming earlier than ever before in the chart Known Near-earth Asteroids claims that in 1986 there were barely 2000 NEAs and in 2013 there was over 12000! This shows that we need to prepare for bigger asteroids that could come at anytime! Imagine how that chart could go up in the next decade. NASA should fund asteroid studies because they could come up with a way to defend our earth from big asteroids.
Many people including myself believe this because it could help our economy. According to NASA.Gov “the meteorites could contain precious metals, minerals, and even new elements that could be added to the periodic table” They could be used on Earth with trade value. This would give The U.S a humongous boost around 10 billion dollars to our GDP (gross domestic product value). The asteroid
Is this a Campus or Community Resource? Explain. This is a community resource because it is not on the actual campus and it is in the Champaign area. Also, it is open to anyone in the area and not just strictly for on-campus
Do you think NASA(National Aeronautics and space Administration) should fund asteroid studies? I claim yes because we want to keep our planet safe, collect more resources, and learn more about asteroids and space. Over the years, data shows there are more and more asteroids that are causing damage. Some people agree or disagree if NASA should fund asteroid studies. Have you ever thought about that?
Metal mining is the process of extracting ore or minerals underneath of the earth. Mining produces economic gains for countries that have plenty of metallic ore deposits, however the mining industry has a record of causing environmental disasters by releasing heavy metals such as (lead, lithium, cadmium) and other chemicals. Also mining has increased air pollution, loss of habitat for many species and the impact on the human health can be devastating.
4. Two kinds of natural resources are especially valuable to human’s minerals and energy resources.
My sci-fi paper is going to focus on the future when almost all traditional energy resources are at the edge of being exhausted. By that time, any form of clean energy will not be enough to support the whole human race and without a choice, people on Earth have relied much more heavily on nuclear power and countless number of nuclear power stations are then built worldwide. Then, unavoidably, the rate of nuclear accident will raise either due to lack of safety measures for countries that are not experienced with nuclear area or due to the increasing warfare in fighting for the remaining natural resources. Also, as more and more countries start to build their own power plants and factories producing enriched uranium, not only properly dealing with the large amount of radioactive wastes becomes a huge concern, but also the a proper supervision over the produce of enriched uranium to prevent the wide spread of nuclear weapon can be much more challenging. Under these circumstances, people start to view nuclear fusion as the power source over nuclear fission since fusion is more efficient, safer, and far lass radioactive wastes are generated during the process. Since Helium-3, which is only largely available in the outer space, an international mining company is then established to mine on the Moon for Helium-3.
To better understand the asteroid mining industry, a brief understanding of how asteroids are composed and useful is essential. Asteroids are pieces of rock, mineral, and metal in a compact form. There are an indefinite amount of asteroids in our solar system today and about 9,000-10,000 known around Earth. The exploration of asteroids has found that they contain trillions of dollars worth of minerals and metals including gold, silver, platinum, iron, nickel, water, and hydrogen. These valuable metals, for example platinum, is available up to grades 100 ppm on asteroids, whereas the mines in South Africa contain 5 to 10ppm (Sonter.) Because of the amount of available resources and the quality at which the resources can be found are the obvious reasons why this industry may explode. Asteroid mining is the extraction of
In our days, mining for resources is inevitable. The resources we need are valuable in everyday life. Such resources mined up are coal, copper, gold, silver, and sand. However, mining poses environmental risks that can degrade the quality of soil and water, which can end up effecting us humans if not taken care of and many of the damages are irreversible once they have occurred.
Another perspective to look at it is that social impact mining has. Though it can be difficult to separate the economic impact from the social, because many social issues are the result of poverty. Meaning that if the mining