ASTERIOD MINING, the era of evolution or revolution?

Humans have been searching the planet for rare minerals, gold, and silver for centuries. Our current focus, however, is on the silent, tumbling rocks of the asteroid belt, which are far from our planet. These cosmic time capsules, which date back to the early solar system, may contain the secret to asteroid mining, the next major industrial revolution.

Sterile space debris is not all that asteroids are. Many are abundant in rare earth elements, gold, palladium, platinum, and other precious metals that are essential for electronics, renewable energy, and even space travel. According to some estimates, there may be more platinum on a single, metal-rich asteroid than has ever been extracted from Earth's mines.

The challenges are immense, but the appeal is irresistible. Space mining requires spacecraft, in contrast to mining on Earth.capable of covering millions of kilometers, being quickly fastened on a fast-target, working in a microgravity situation, and all commanded from millions of kilometres away. NASA, the European Space Agency, and new startups (like Planetary Resources and AstroForge) are already starting to test the waters (or lack of waters) of robotic miners and prospecting missions.

Those proponents of asteroid mining see significant potential benefits in both reducing dependence on Earth's finite resources for raw spacecraft materials (in orbit, for example) while simultaneously lowering costs for deep-space missions. Those against asteroid mining cite technological, legal, and ethical issues with the concept of mining, such as ownership of objects, or disrupting the pristine surface of celestial bodies.

However, historical evidence tells us that often, what is thought of as dreams (or impossibilities) become established facts. Just like the 19th century gold rush led to a transformed 21st century in their image, will asteroid mining define the 21st century with an "asteroid rush?" Where and how we will be able to mine one's asteroid is a different question, but the right question now is about who is going to get a claim on his or her asteroid first.

And, when that claim is obtained, and their first spacecraft returns, and will be carrying back its hold full of space metals, the line between science fiction and reality will be finished forever.

Nidhi Rana, Class XII-A, PML SD Public School, Chandigarh