Difference between revisions of "Resources in space"
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The asteroid belt, the Moon and other nearby parts of the solar system hold abundant mineral deposits. | The asteroid belt, the Moon and other nearby parts of the solar system hold abundant mineral deposits. | ||
| + | ====Asteroid mining==== | ||
The book {{wp|Mining_the_Sky:_Untold_Riches_from_the_Asteroids%2C_Comets%2C_and_Planets|Mining the Sky}} by {{wp|John_S._Lewis|John S. Lewis}} explains in some detail what mineral resources are available in our solar system, even in near-Earth orbits. For example, the near-Earth asteroid {{wp|(6178)_1986_DA|(6178) 1986 DA}} contains 10,000 tons of gold, 100,000 tons of platinum, 10 billion tons of iron and a billion tons of nickel, while many parts of the Moon's surface are around 15% iron <sup>[http://www.britannica.com/bps/image/391266/73247/Global-distribution-of-iron-on-the-Moons-surface-based-on]</sup> and 10% titanium <sup>[http://www.lunarrepublic.com/atlas/titan_map.shtml]</sup> | The book {{wp|Mining_the_Sky:_Untold_Riches_from_the_Asteroids%2C_Comets%2C_and_Planets|Mining the Sky}} by {{wp|John_S._Lewis|John S. Lewis}} explains in some detail what mineral resources are available in our solar system, even in near-Earth orbits. For example, the near-Earth asteroid {{wp|(6178)_1986_DA|(6178) 1986 DA}} contains 10,000 tons of gold, 100,000 tons of platinum, 10 billion tons of iron and a billion tons of nickel, while many parts of the Moon's surface are around 15% iron <sup>[http://www.britannica.com/bps/image/391266/73247/Global-distribution-of-iron-on-the-Moons-surface-based-on]</sup> and 10% titanium <sup>[http://www.lunarrepublic.com/atlas/titan_map.shtml]</sup> | ||
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| + | ====Mining the moon==== | ||
| + | The surface of the Moon contains abundant titanium, iron and aluminium. The lunar soil is 10% titanium in many places<sup>[http://www.space.com/13247-moon-map-lunar-titanium.html]</sup>, 3% iron<sup>[http://www.sciencemag.org/content/268/5214/1150]</sup> and 10% aluminium<sup>[http://www.asi.org/adb/m/05/04/02/aluminum-sources.html]</sup>. These minerals can be extracted into usable forms; the chemistry of extraction is detailed [http://www.moonminer.com/Lunar-Titanium.html here] for titanium and [http://www.moonminer.com/Lunar_Aluminum.html here] for aluminium. | ||
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| + | Building a mining colony on the Moon is possible with today's technology. (Indeed, it was one of the policies on which Newt Gingrinch campaigned for Republican presidential nomination in 2012.) From this colony, we could mine enormous quantities of iron, aluminium and titanium and launch them into space using a mass driver. Launching from the Moon is much easier than from Earth, because there is much less gravity and no air resistance. Having construction metals cheaply and abundantly available in space is essential for many of our most ambitious plans in space: [[Space_habitats#Step_one:_greenhousing_Mars|aluminium mirrors could be used to terraform Mars]], and other off-Earth [[Space_habitats#.27Islands.27_in_space|habitats such as O'Neill cylinders]] could be made from lunar minerals and provide living space for trillions of people. | ||
===Living space=== | ===Living space=== | ||
Revision as of 01:09, 29 April 2012
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Space is deficient in simple resources like air and this might put one off the idea of colonising it unless it had other charms to make up for this defect...
Energy
Energy is one resource in abundance in space. See the discussion of space-based solar power for more. In space the sun is always shining and there is no atmosphere to attenuate it glare. Solar power is the obvious way to go, at least in the inner solar system.
Minerals
The asteroid belt, the Moon and other nearby parts of the solar system hold abundant mineral deposits.
Asteroid mining
The book Mining the Sky 
by John S. Lewis explains in some detail what mineral resources are available in our solar system, even in near-Earth orbits. For example, the near-Earth asteroid (6178) 1986 DA contains 10,000 tons of gold, 100,000 tons of platinum, 10 billion tons of iron and a billion tons of nickel, while many parts of the Moon's surface are around 15% iron [1] and 10% titanium [2]
Mining the moon
The surface of the Moon contains abundant titanium, iron and aluminium. The lunar soil is 10% titanium in many places[3], 3% iron[4] and 10% aluminium[5]. These minerals can be extracted into usable forms; the chemistry of extraction is detailed here for titanium and here for aluminium.
Building a mining colony on the Moon is possible with today's technology. (Indeed, it was one of the policies on which Newt Gingrinch campaigned for Republican presidential nomination in 2012.) From this colony, we could mine enormous quantities of iron, aluminium and titanium and launch them into space using a mass driver. Launching from the Moon is much easier than from Earth, because there is much less gravity and no air resistance. Having construction metals cheaply and abundantly available in space is essential for many of our most ambitious plans in space: aluminium mirrors could be used to terraform Mars, and other off-Earth habitats such as O'Neill cylinders could be made from lunar minerals and provide living space for trillions of people.
Living space
If we mined the moon and asteroid to build space colonies, we could ultimately have living space in these colonies 1000 times greater than the land area of Earth – and all this living space would be in pleasant temperature and conditions with abundant clean energy. As explained on the discussion of population, Gerard O'Neill has estimated that a series of space habitats around the Earth and Sun could sustain 80 trillion people comfortably.
See also
- Fundamental resources (on Earth)
