Looks like a plan to do something that will matter. The idea is to use what's on the asteroid to enable a permanent human presence in space.
Note that an asteroid of this size weighs about 500 tons. If it is a carbonaceous asteroid, it may contain upwards of 30% water. That's potentially 150 tons of water, which is nothing to sneeze at. It needs to be mined, of course. That, along with everything else that is usable.
It should not be a one-off mission. If such were part of a larger plan to utilize asteroidal materials to colonize space, then this should be considered a step in the right direction.
More money could be freed up by canceling the SLS rocket, and contracting SpaceX to do the launch services.
link to article follows directly:
Note that an asteroid of this size weighs about 500 tons. If it is a carbonaceous asteroid, it may contain upwards of 30% water. That's potentially 150 tons of water, which is nothing to sneeze at. It needs to be mined, of course. That, along with everything else that is usable.
It should not be a one-off mission. If such were part of a larger plan to utilize asteroidal materials to colonize space, then this should be considered a step in the right direction.
More money could be freed up by canceling the SLS rocket, and contracting SpaceX to do the launch services.
link to article follows directly:
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