RESOURCES IN SPACE

INTRODUCTION
Earth has sustained multi-form life by providing accessible resources to humans
and a multitude of living organisms. In free space, spacecraft makes use of
vacuum, solar radiation and the background temperature of space to generate
power.

So far, our technology has allowed us to voyage through space and to other
planets by carrying what we need and adapting to the space environment in a
relatively passive way and in limited fashion.

Our quest to push our spacecraft further for longer periods of exploration and to
send humans on Mars and beyond still forces us to actively seek and use the
accessible resources on other worlds to ensure the survival and performance of
both crew and machines. Ultimately, the reach of machines and humans in space
will depend on how we learn to utilize space resources as we did on Earth.
BEYOND SUSTAINABILITY
The resource requirements of the human race continue to escalate, with the
United Nations anticipating a three-fold increase in resource usage between 2010
and 2050. In response, over the past few decades there has been an increasing
focus on 'sustainability' initiatives like recycling and transitioning to alternative
energy sources. However, all such measures to consume less can at best only
constitute a short-term solution to the resource requirements of future generations.
In the long-term, we will therefore need to move Beyond Sustainability to
both consume less and find more.

As the resource supplies of the Earth continue to dwindle, one of the places we
can find fresh supplies of both energy and raw materials is out in space. This could
involve the mining of the asteroids and the Moon. But, before that occurs, our most
likely option for obtaining extraterrestrial resources is space-based solar power.
RESOURCES IN SPACE

Crater on Mars with deposit of

carbon dioxide ice

(Image credit: ESA)

SOLAR ENERGY FROM SPACE
Space-based solar power, also known just as space solar power, would generate
off-world energy by placing solar power satellites in orbit. These would receive
sunlight before it hit the Earth, and would wirelessly transmit their collected energy
to a receiving station on the ground. For safe operation, wireless power
transmission frequencies would need to be chosen that would not damage
animals, plants or machines caught in the beam.

Designs for a space-based solar power system were first developed by an

American engineer called Peter Glaser, who in 1973 obtained a patent for his
'method and apparatus for converting solar radiation to electrical power'. This
envisaged solar power satellites with microwave antennas that would transmit
power to large Earth-based receivers called 'rectennas'.
ASTEROID MINING
Asteroids -- also known as minor planets or planetoids -- are chunks of
space debris in orbit around the Sun. They are the material left over
from the formation of the planets, and range from a few meters, to
hundreds of kilometers in diameter.
ASTEROID MINING
Asteroids are likely to be easier to mine than the Moon. This is
because even the largest asteroids have very low gravitational
fields. This means that it would be relatively straight-forward for
spacecraft to both travel to asteroids, and to launch back into
space. Extracted metals, water and other valuable raw
materials could therefore be readily transported to the Earth or
other locations, perhaps in vast rocket trains.
Asteroid miners could use Earth’s
atmosphere to catch space rocks
 Forget deflecting asteroids from hitting Earth—some engineers are drawing up
a strategy to steer asteroids toward us, so our atmosphere can act as a giant
catching mitt for resource-rich space rocks.

 What might sound like a crazy idea is actually quite business savvy, according
to Minghu Tan, a Ph.D. student at the University of Glasgow in the United
Kingdom who co-authored the new study.

 The study involves Aerobraking, or using the drag created by Earth’s

atmosphere to slow down the path of an incoming object. Aerobraking isn’t
new—every incoming spacecraft to Earth uses it to slow itself down before
landing, and probes to other planets
Asteroid miners could use Earth’s
atmosphere to catch space rocks
 Tan and his colleagues propose using Aerobraking to slow small
asteroids enough that they don’t just shoot straight past Earth, but stay
in orbit, where they could be mined for platinum or water. Those
resources could then be taken to space stations to supply future
missions or operations. Water, they write, could even be split into
hydrogen and oxygen for fuel.
ATMOSPHERES
 Atmospheres hold vast resources of critical importance.
Oxygen and carbon in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2)
constitute 95% of the Martian atmosphere and buffer gases
such as nitrogen (2.7%) and Argon (1.6%). Although present at
low pressure (~ 7 mbar or 1/100 of Earth pressure), it offers a
major source of important gases accessible through simple
chemical processes.
 ISRU can potentially revolutionize our abilities to reach the
outer Solar System by accessing the vast reservoirs of high
value gases around the giant planets; Titan, a massive moon of
Saturn offers nitrogen and methane and Europa, the Jovian
moon has an oxygen-rich atmosphere.
ATMOSPHERES

The atmosphere of Mars is

mostly made of carbon dioxide
(95%) with nitrogen and argon.
(Image credit: NASA)
CONCLUSION
 As we pursue the new industrial frontiers of space-based solar
power, asteroid mining, and mining the moon, we may
perhaps additionally bolster the human spirit by creating a
thriving space tourism industry, and just possibly by landing the
first human being on Mars. Unless we become extinct first, the
destiny of human civilization has to be evolved into space.