It is often questioned by people that, what is the benefit of space exploration and why we spend trillions of dollars in discovering about space and the universe?
Humans are the most selfish beings that ever lived. They destroy and misuse each and everything either its natural or artificial.Today we are lacking on things which are the most important for life like water and energy. So, in case some wise people have suggested that we should explore other planets or the space to find things which fulfill our demands. In that case scientists have sent a large number of missions in space for the search of these things.
The most notable mentions are asteroids.The richest person in modern history, was John Davison Rockefeller, His net worth was three times greater than that of our richest tech billionaires. Timely exploitation of a vast, then-untapped natural resource: oil.In this modern world there is something lying in space untouched which are Asteroids, and the precious materials they contain. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson predicts that the world’s first trillionaire will be an asteroid miner.
Asteroids are rocky objects which are leftover stuff after a planet’s formation.There exist millions of asteroids.The vast majority of known asteroids orbit within the main asteroid belt located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. They are classified into three types.
C-type, M-type and S-type.
C-type asteroids are the most abundant type of asteroids which are also known as carbonaceous asteroids.They have a high abundance of water which is a very useful component for life on Earth.They also contain some valuable heavy elements. S-type asteroids or siliceous asteroids are the second most abundant in the solar system.They contain a good amount of iron and nickel. Third most abundant are M-type asteroids or metallic asteroids which contain a large amount of gold and platinum.
It is due to these asteroids the Earth got all of its minerals in early period while creation of the Earth.
Mining these rocks could be very profitable. It is believed that a single 30 meter asteroid contains 20 billion dollar worth of platinum alone.These precious metals could be used in our technologies and heavy space equipment. Asteroids also contains a huge amount of water which could be disintegrate to make rocket fuel and be used for drinking purposes here on Earth.Many companies are competing to get started into asteroid mining and there are chances that first successful mining mission will be sent soon.