tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/asteroid-mining-13034/articlesAsteroid mining – The Conversation2024-02-26T17:19:30Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2243182024-02-26T17:19:30Z2024-02-26T17:19:30ZA Nasa mission that collided with an asteroid didn’t just leave a dent – it reshaped the space rock<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577638/original/file-20240223-18-v91s4p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1917%2C1080&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://images.nasa.gov/details/PIA25329">NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A frequent idea in sci-fi and apocalyptic films is that of an asteroid
striking Earth and causing global devastation. While the probabilities of this kind of mass extinction occurring on our planet are incredibly small, they are not zero. </p>
<p>The results of Nasa’s Dart mission to the asteroid Dimorphos <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-024-02200-3">have now been published</a>. They contain fascinating details about the composition of this asteroid and whether we can defend Earth against incoming space rocks.</p>
<p><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/dart/">The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (Dart)</a> was a spacecraft mission that launched in November 2021. It was sent to an asteroid called Dimorphos and commanded to collide with it, head on, in September 2022. </p>
<p>Dimorphos posed and poses no threat to Earth in the near future. But the mission was designed to see if deflecting an asteroid away from a collision course with Earth was possible through “kinetic” means – in other words, a direct impact of a human-made object on its surface. </p>
<p>Asteroid missions are never easy. The relatively small size of these objects (compared to planets and moons) means there is no appreciable gravity to enable spacecraft to land and collect a sample. </p>
<p>Space agencies have launched a number of spacecraft to asteroids in recent times. For example, the Japanese space agency’s (Jaxa) <a href="https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/en/missions/spacecraft/current/hayabusa2.html">Hayabusa-2</a> mission reached the asteroid Ryugu in 2018, the same year Nasa’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-space-exploration-missions-to-look-%20out-for-in-2023-195839">Osiris-Rex</a> mission rendezvoused with the asteroid Bennu.</p>
<p>The Japanese Hayabusa missions (1 and 2) fired a small projectile at the surface as they approached it. They would then collect the debris as it flew by. </p>
<h2>High-speed collision</h2>
<p>However, the Dart mission was special in that it was not sent to deliver samples of asteroid material to labs on Earth. Instead, it was to fly at high speed into the space rock and be destroyed in the process.</p>
<p>A high-speed collision with an asteroid needs incredible precision. Dart’s target of Dimorphos was actually part of a <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/asteroids/didymos/">double asteroid</a> system, known as a binary because the smaller object orbits the larger one. This binary contained both Didymus – the larger of the two objects – and Dimorphos, which behaves effectively as a moon.</p>
<p>The simulations of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-024-02200-3">what has happened to Dimorphos</a> show that while we might expect to see a very large crater on the asteroid from Dart’s impact, it is more likely that it has, in fact, changed the shape of the asteroid instead. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Dimorphos." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577962/original/file-20240226-24-ninx49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577962/original/file-20240226-24-ninx49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577962/original/file-20240226-24-ninx49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577962/original/file-20240226-24-ninx49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577962/original/file-20240226-24-ninx49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577962/original/file-20240226-24-ninx49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577962/original/file-20240226-24-ninx49.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dimorphos, as pictured by the Dart spacecraft.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/dart/">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ant hitting two buses</h2>
<p>The collision was of a mass of 580kg hitting an asteroid of roughly 5 billion kg. For comparison, this is equivalent to an ant hitting two buses. But the spacecraft is also travelling around 6 kilometres per second. </p>
<p>The simulation results based on observations of the asteroid Dimorphos have shown that the asteroid now orbits around its larger companion, Didymus, 33 minutes slower than before. Its orbit has gone from 11 hours, 55 minutes to 11 hours, 22 minutes. </p>
<p>The momentum change to the core of Dimorphos is also higher than one would predict from the direct impact, which may seem impossible at first. However, the asteroid is quite weakly constructed, consisting of loose rubble held together by gravity. The impact caused a lot of material to be blown off of Dimorphos. </p>
<p>This material is now travelling in the opposite direction to the impact. This acts <a href="http://www.dynamicscience.com.au/tester/solutions1/war/newton/recoilless.htm">like a recoil</a>, slowing down the asteroid.</p>
<p>Observations of all the <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2340837-photo-shows-10000-km-debris-tail-caused-by-%20dart-asteroid-smash/">highly reflective material that has been shed from Dimorphos</a> allows scientists to estimate how much of it has been lost from the asteroid. Their result is roughly 20 million kilograms – equivalent to about six of the Apollo-era Saturn V rockets fully loaded with fuel. </p>
<p>Combining all the parameters together (mass, speed, angle and amount of material lost) and simulating the impact has allowed the researchers to be fairly confident about the answer. Confident not only regarding the grain size of the material coming from Dimorphos, but also that the asteroid has limited cohesion and the surface must be constantly altered, or reshaped, by minor impacts.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Artist's impression of Chicxulub asteroid." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577961/original/file-20240226-24-p85pi2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577961/original/file-20240226-24-p85pi2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577961/original/file-20240226-24-p85pi2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577961/original/file-20240226-24-p85pi2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577961/original/file-20240226-24-p85pi2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577961/original/file-20240226-24-p85pi2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577961/original/file-20240226-24-p85pi2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The dinosaurs were wiped out by a 10km-wide asteroid that hit Earth 66 million years ago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/planet-earth-big-asteroid-space-potentially-2107872635">Buradaki / Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But what does this tell us about protecting ourselves from an asteroid impact? Significant recent impacts on Earth have included the <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/2023/02/15/remembering-the-chelyabinsk-impact-10-years-ago-and-looking-to-the-future/">meteor</a> which broke up in the sky over the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013, and the infamous <a href="https://earthsky.org/space/what-is-the-tunguska-explosion/">Tunguska
impact</a> over a remote part of Siberia in 1908. </p>
<p>While these were not the kinds of events that are able to cause mass extinctions – like the 10km object that wiped out the dinosaurs when it struck our planet 66 million years ago – the potential for damage and loss of life with smaller objects such as those at Chelyabinsk and Tunguska is very high.</p>
<p>The Dart mission cost US$324 million (£255 million), which is low for a space mission, and with its development phase completed, a similar mission to go and deflect an asteroid heading our way could be launched more cheaply. </p>
<p>The big variable here is how much warning we will have, because a change in orbit of 30 minutes – as was observed when Dart struck Dimorphos – will make little difference if the asteroid is already very close to Earth. However, if we can predict the object path from further out – preferably outside the Solar System – and make small changes, this could be enough to divert the path of an asteroid away from our planet.</p>
<p>We can expect to see more of these missions in the future, not only because of interest in the science surrounding asteroids, but because the ease of removing material from them means that private companies might want to step up their ideas of <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/things-are-looking-up-for-asteroid-mining/">mining these space rocks</a> for precious metals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224318/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Whittaker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The mission provided details about how to deflect an asteroid should one threaten Earth in future.Ian Whittaker, Senior Lecturer in Physics, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2149172023-11-02T12:33:11Z2023-11-02T12:33:11ZNASA’s robotic prospectors are helping scientists understand what asteroids are made of – setting the stage for miners to follow someday<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557153/original/file-20231101-25-cep1ng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C5%2C3982%2C2233&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mining an asteroid probably won't look exactly like mining does on Earth, but some principles will stay the same. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mining-and-extraction-of-raw-materials-on-the-royalty-free-image/1433072451?phrase=asteroid+mining&adppopup=true">posteriori/iStock via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The cars, cellphones, computers and televisions that people in the U.S. use every day require metals like copper, cobalt and platinum to build. Demand from the electronics industry for these metals is only rising, and companies are constantly searching for new places on Earth to mine them.</p>
<p>Scientists estimate that lots of these metals exist thousands of miles beneath Earth’s surface, in its molten core, but that’s far <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXFBJr8XRlQ">too deep and hot to mine</a>. Instead, some companies hope to one day search for deposits that are literally out of this world — on asteroids.</p>
<p>The commercialization of asteroid mining is still a ways off, but in October 2023, NASA launched a scientific mission to explore the <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche">metal-rich asteroid Psyche</a>. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/nasas-psyche-mission-to-a-metal-world-may-reveal-the-mysteries-of-earths-interior-206913">main goal of the mission</a> is studying the composition and structure of this asteroid, which could tell scientists more about Earth’s core since the two objects might have a similar makeup. </p>
<p>Both likely contain platinum, nickel, iron and possibly even gold – materials of commercial interest.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TgVorJfM8BM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Experts need to know what’s out there on asteroids before considering whether they’re worth mining. NASA’s Psyche mission could answer some of these questions.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://valeriepayre.weebly.com/">I am a planetary geologist</a> whose work explores other planets and astronomical objects like Mars, Venus and the Moon. I will be following the Psyche mission closely, as this is the first time that scientists will be able to learn about the composition and structure of <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/psyche">a possible piece of a planetary core similar to the Earth’s</a>, without indirect seismic or magnetic measurements, or replicating the pressure and temperature conditions of the Earth’s core in our labs. </p>
<p>With the spacecraft estimated to arrive at the asteroid’s orbit in 2029, the findings from the Psyche mission will provide unique insights into the type of metals present on the asteroid’s surface, as well as their amount, and the minerals containing these metals. This data is essential both for scientists like me exploring the formation and evolution planetary bodies, as well as for companies investigating the possibility of asteroid mining.</p>
<h2>Asteroid formation</h2>
<p>Asteroids come in a <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/asteroids/facts/">variety of sizes</a>. Some are the size of a town, while others are the size of a state. Most asteroids are made of rocks and represent the leftovers from the early <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/facts/">formation of our solar system</a> around 4.6 billion years ago.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554412/original/file-20231017-29-nm2shd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An artist's illustration of a gray asteroid with some yellow-ish surfaces, and two large circular craters." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554412/original/file-20231017-29-nm2shd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554412/original/file-20231017-29-nm2shd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554412/original/file-20231017-29-nm2shd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554412/original/file-20231017-29-nm2shd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554412/original/file-20231017-29-nm2shd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554412/original/file-20231017-29-nm2shd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554412/original/file-20231017-29-nm2shd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=670&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Psyche asteroid.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/asteroids/16-psyche/">NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Not every asteroid is the same – some, like Bennu, the target of <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/osiris-rex/">NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission</a>, are rich in carbon. These are very old, and they will teach scientists more about how planets formed and how life may have begun on Earth. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/nasas-psyche-mission-to-a-metal-world-may-reveal-the-mysteries-of-earths-interior-206913">Others, like Psyche</a>, are made of metals and potentially result from one or more collisions between astronomical objects when the solar system was forming. These collisions left debris flying through space — including potential pieces of a planet’s metal-rich core. A NASA spacecraft will orbit and analyze the surface of Psyche.</p>
<h2>Mining in space</h2>
<p>Not every mineral deposit on Earth is mineable. Companies first look for deposits with a <a href="https://www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues/faq/what-happens-during-and-after-mining">high level of metal purity</a>. They also investigate how affordable and feasible extracting the metal would be before choosing where to mine. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557155/original/file-20231101-25-m9vm22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A bird's eye view of a gray rock, with a red crane on it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557155/original/file-20231101-25-m9vm22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557155/original/file-20231101-25-m9vm22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557155/original/file-20231101-25-m9vm22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557155/original/file-20231101-25-m9vm22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557155/original/file-20231101-25-m9vm22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557155/original/file-20231101-25-m9vm22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557155/original/file-20231101-25-m9vm22.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Before mining, companies think about whether a deposit will yield enough metal. The same principle applies to asteroid mining.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/aerial-image-directly-above-an-industrial-machine-royalty-free-image/1443957870?phrase=mine&adppopup=true">Abstract Aerial Art/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similarly, before mining an asteroid, companies will have to think about all those factors, and they’ll have to come up with the infrastructure needed to mine at a distance and transport the metals they mine hundreds of millions of miles back to Earth. The technology to do that is still years away, and transporting metals would require major funding.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://builtin.com/aerospace/top-space-mining-companies">few companies</a> around the world have already started to think about what the best and lowest cost approach would be, drawing from processes similar to those used on Earth. </p>
<p>The first step would be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90303-3_6">finding a mineable metal deposit</a>. Next, they’d drill and <a href="https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/acm2023/pdf/2492.pdf?ref=karmanplus.com">extract the metals on the asteroid</a>. One of the most important differences with Earth mines is that each step would be undertaken remotely with spacecrafts orbiting around the asteroid and robots landing on its surface. Then, a spacecraft would send the resulting materials back to Earth. </p>
<p>Asteroid mining plans are still at their earliest stages. A few companies like <a href="https://spacenews.com/asteroid-mining-company-planetary-resources-acquired-by-blockchain-firm/">Planetary Resources</a> and <a href="https://spacenews.com/deep-space-industries-acquired-by-bradford-space/">Deep Space Industries</a>, with goals to extract metals from space, were acquired by other companies. </p>
<p>Experts can’t quite tell yet how acquiring valuable metals from asteroids would affect the global economy, but these metals could potentially flood the market and <a href="https://hir.harvard.edu/economics-of-the-stars/">lower their values</a>.</p>
<p>The Psyche mission is a huge step in figuring out what sort of metals are out there, and it may also answer questions about the composition and properties of Earth’s core.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214917/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Valerie Payré does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Upcoming NASA missions will help scientists understand the composition of asteroids – which could inform companies one day hoping to commercially mine asteroids.Valerie Payré, Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of IowaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1828202022-05-11T12:06:26Z2022-05-11T12:06:26ZWealthy nations are carving up space and its riches – and leaving other countries behind<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462334/original/file-20220510-10405-28cfr8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=52%2C152%2C3870%2C3205&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There is a U.S. flag on the Moon, but in the future, countries may start to turn access to the Moon and asteroids into serious wealth.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/AS11-40-5874HR.jpg">NASA/Neil A. Armstrong</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Satellites help run the internet and television and are central to the Global Positioning System. They <a href="https://theconversation.com/eyes-in-the-sky-cutting-nasa-earth-observations-would-be-a-costly-mistake-69705">enable modern weather forecasting</a>, help scientists <a href="https://theconversation.com/smallsat-revolution-tiny-satellites-poised-to-make-big-contributions-to-essential-science-71440">track environmental degradation</a> and play a <a href="https://theconversation.com/intelligence-information-warfare-cyber-warfare-electronic-warfare-what-they-are-and-how-russia-is-using-them-in-ukraine-177899">huge role in modern military technology</a>.</p>
<p>Nations that don’t have their own satellites providing these services rely on other countries. For those that want to develop their own satellite infrastructure, options are running out as space fills up.</p>
<p><a href="https://news.asu.edu/20220127-interplanetary-initiative-welcomes-its-first-fellow">I am a research fellow</a> at Arizona State University, studying the wider benefits of space and ways to make it more accessible to developing countries. </p>
<p>Inequity is already playing out in access to satellites. In the not-so-distant future, the ability to extract resources from the Moon and asteroids could become a major point of difference between the space haves and have-nots. As policies emerge, there is the risk that these inequities become permanent.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462337/original/file-20220510-26-94yfv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A diagram showing a satellite orbiting Earth." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462337/original/file-20220510-26-94yfv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462337/original/file-20220510-26-94yfv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462337/original/file-20220510-26-94yfv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462337/original/file-20220510-26-94yfv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462337/original/file-20220510-26-94yfv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462337/original/file-20220510-26-94yfv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462337/original/file-20220510-26-94yfv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Geostationary orbits, where a satellite stays above a single point along the Earth’s equator, are very valuable. But there is only enough room for 1,800 satellites in this orbit, and many of these slots are already taken or spoken for.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Geosynchronous-orbit.svg#/media/File:Geosynchronous-orbit.svg">MikeRun/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Where to park a satellite</h2>
<p>Thanks to the rapid commercialization, miniaturization and <a href="https://www.globalpoliticsreview.com/publications/2464-9929_v04_i02.pdf#page=72">plummeting costs of satellite technology in recent years</a>, more <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-many-satellites-are-orbiting-earth-166715">countries are able to reap the benefits of space</a>. </p>
<p>CubeSats are small, cheap, customizable satellites that are <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-mission-supports-launch-of-cubesats-built-by-middle-and-high-school-students">simple enough to be built by high school students</a>. Companies such as SpaceX can launch one of these satellites into orbit for relatively cheap – <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/23/spacex-raises-prices-for-launches-and-starlink-due-to-inflation.html">from $1,300 per pound</a>. However, there are only so many places to “park” a satellite in orbit around Earth, and these are quickly filling up. </p>
<p>The best parking is in geostationary orbit, around 22,250 miles (35,800 kilometers) above the equator. A satellite in geostationary orbit <a href="https://www.space.com/29222-geosynchronous-orbit.html">rotates at the same rate as Earth</a>, remaining directly above a single location on Earth’s surface – which can be very useful for telecommunications, broadcasting and weather satellites. </p>
<p>There are only 1,800 geostationary orbital slots, and as of February 2022, <a href="https://www.satsig.net/sslist.htm">541 of them were occupied by active satellites</a>. Countries and private companies have already claimed most of the <a href="https://www.spacelegalissues.com/orbital-slots-and-space-congestion/">unoccupied slots</a> that offer access to major markets, and the satellites to fill them are currently being assembled or awaiting launch. If, for example, a new spacefaring nation wants to put a weather satellite over a specific spot in the Atlantic Ocean that is already claimed, they would either have to choose a less optimal location for the satellite or buy services from the country occupying the spot they wanted.</p>
<p>Orbital slots are allocated by an agency of the United Nations called the <a href="https://www.itu.int/en/Pages/default.aspx">International Telecommunication Union</a>. Slots are free, but they <a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-a-parking-crisis-in-space-and-you-should-be-worried-about-it-83479">go to countries on a first-come, first-served basis</a>. When a satellite reaches the end of its 15- to 20-year lifespan, a country can simply replace it and renew its hold on the slot. This effectively allows countries to <a href="http://www.mjilonline.org/are-the-non-appropriation-principle-and-the-current-regulatory-regime-governing-geostationary-orbit-equitable-for-all-of-earths-states/">keep these positions indefinitely</a>. Countries that already have the technology to utilize geostationary orbit have a major advantage over those that do not.</p>
<p>While geostationary orbital slots are the most useful and limited, there are many other orbits around Earth. These, too, are filling up – adding to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/space-debris-8399">growing problem of space debris</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462339/original/file-20220510-16-hx0izt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A row of small satellites attached to a rocket with Earth in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462339/original/file-20220510-16-hx0izt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462339/original/file-20220510-16-hx0izt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462339/original/file-20220510-16-hx0izt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462339/original/file-20220510-16-hx0izt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462339/original/file-20220510-16-hx0izt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462339/original/file-20220510-16-hx0izt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462339/original/file-20220510-16-hx0izt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin are planning to put thousands of satellites in orbit – as seen in the photo of 60 SpaceX Starlink satellites about to detach from a rocket.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/people/130608600@N05">SpaceX/Flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Low Earth orbit is around <a href="https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2020/03/Low_Earth_orbit#:%7E:text=A%20low%20Earth%20orbit%20">1,000 miles (1,600 km) above the surface</a>. Satellites in low Earth orbit are moving fast in a highly congested environment. While this may be a good place for Earth imaging satellites, it is not ideal for single communication satellites – like those used to broadcast television, radio and the internet.</p>
<p>Low Earth orbit can be used for communications if multiple satellites work together to form a constellation. Companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin are working on projects to <a href="https://www.space.com/megaconstellations-could-destroy-astronomy-no-easy-fix">put thousands of satellites into low Earth orbit</a> over the next few years to provide internet across the globe. The first generation of SpaceX’s Starlink consists of 1,926 satellites, and the second generation <a href="https://www.space.com/megaconstellations-could-destroy-astronomy-no-easy-fix">will add another 30,000 to orbit</a>.</p>
<p>At the current rate, the major space players are rapidly occupying geostationary and low Earth orbits, potentially monopolizing access to important satellite capabilities and <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/28/17906158/nasa-spacex-oneweb-satellite-large-constellations-orbital-debris">adding to space junk</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462338/original/file-20220510-22-kcqmf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A rendering of a brown and silver asteroid in space." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462338/original/file-20220510-22-kcqmf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462338/original/file-20220510-22-kcqmf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462338/original/file-20220510-22-kcqmf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462338/original/file-20220510-22-kcqmf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462338/original/file-20220510-22-kcqmf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462338/original/file-20220510-22-kcqmf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462338/original/file-20220510-22-kcqmf2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Asteroids contain mind-boggling amounts of valuable metals – like 16 Psyche, seen here, which holds massive reserves of US$10 quintillion worth of iron.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/how-nasa-s-psyche-mission-will-explore-an-unexplored-world">NASA/JPL-Caltech</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Access to resources in space</h2>
<p>Orbital slots are an area where inequity exists today. The future of space could be a gold rush for resources – and not everyone will benefit.</p>
<p>Asteroids hold astounding amounts of <a href="https://www.manufacturing.net/technology/blog/21113380/asteroid-mining-could-solve-rare-metal-shortage">valuable minerals and metals</a>. Later this year, <a href="https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/psyche/in-depth/">NASA is launching a probe</a> to explore an asteroid named 16 Psyche, which scientists estimate contains over <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/3175097/nasa-plans-mission-to-a-metal-rich-asteroid-worth-quadrillions/">US$10 quintillion worth of iron</a>. Tapping huge resource deposits like this and transporting them to Earth could provide massive boosts to the economies of spacefaring nations while disrupting the economies of countries that currently depend on exporting minerals and metals.</p>
<p>Another highly valuable resource in space is helium-3, a rare version of helium that scientists think could be used in nuclear fusion reactions <a href="https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Preparing_for_the_Future/Space_for_Earth/Energy/Helium-3_mining_on_the_lunar_surface">without producing radioactive waste</a>. While there are <a href="https://www.thespacereview.com/article/2834/1">considerable technological obstacles to overcome</a> before helium-3 is a feasible energy source, if it works, there are enough deposits on the Moon and elsewhere in the solar system to <a href="https://www.mining.com/web/quest-find-trillion-dollar-nuclear-fuel-moon/">satisfy Earth’s energy requirements for several centuries</a>. If powerful spacefaring countries develop the technology to use and mine helium-3 – and choose not to share the benefits with other nations – it could result in lasting inequities. </p>
<p>Existing international space laws are <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/external_publications/EP68859.html">not well suited</a> to handle the complicated web of private companies and nations competing for resources in space. Countries are organizing into groups – or “space blocs” – that are <a href="https://theconversation.com/space-blocs-the-future-of-international-cooperation-in-space-is-splitting-along-lines-of-power-on-earth-180221">uniting on goals and rules for future space missions</a>. Two notable space blocs are planning missions to set up bases and potential mining operations on the Moon: the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-accords/index.html">Artemis Accords</a>, led by the U.S., as well as joint <a href="https://carnegiemoscow.org/commentary/86094">Chinese and Russian plans</a>. </p>
<p>Right now, the major players in space are establishing the norms for exploiting resources. There is a risk that instead of focusing on what is best for everyone on Earth, competition will drive these decisions, damaging the space environment and causing conflict. History shows that it is <a href="https://legal.un.org/avl/pdf/ls/greenwood_outline.pdf">hard to challenge international norms once they are established</a>.</p>
<h2>Moving forward</h2>
<p>Access to space is critical for the functioning of a modern nation. Space access will only become more important as humanity rapidly advances toward a future of <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/space-hotel-orbital-assembly-scn/index.html">space hotels</a> and <a href="https://www.space.com/nasa-3d-printed-habitat-competition-winners.html">colonies on Mars</a>. </p>
<p>The 1967 Outer Space Treaty, the founding document of space law, says that space should be used “<a href="https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/outerspacetreaty.html">for the benefit and in the interests of all countries</a>.” The policies taking shape today will dictate whether this is the case in the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182820/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Theodora Ogden is a full-time research fellow at the Interplanetary Initiative at Arizona State University. She is currently on secondment from RAND Europe. The views are the author's own and do not represent the organizations with which she is affiliated. </span></em></p>Current trends suggest that powerful nations are defining the rules of resource use in space and satellite access in ways that will make it hard for developing nations to ever catch up.Theodora Ogden, Research Fellow in Emerging Space Countries, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1762722022-02-03T16:34:12Z2022-02-03T16:34:12ZAsteroid sharing Earth’s orbit discovered – could it help future space missions?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444298/original/file-20220203-27-1xh0s1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C41%2C4000%2C2473&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Where 2020 XL5 would appear in the dawn sky if we could see it with the naked eye from Chile.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noirlab2205c/">NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Research has shown that the Earth trails an asteroid barely a kilometre across in its orbit about the Sun – only the second such body to have ever been spotted. It goes round the Sun on average two months ahead of the Earth, dancing around in front like an excited herald of our coming.</p>
<p>This object, known as 2020 XL₅, was first spotted in December 2020 using <a href="https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2019/12/4315-Image.html?news=true#:%7E:text=The%20Pan%2DSTARRS%20Observatory%20is,in%20many%20colors%20of%20light.">Pan-STARRS telescopes</a> on the summit of Haleakala on the Hawaiian island of Maui. But determination of its orbit required follow-up observations using the 4.1-metre <a href="https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/ctio/telescopes/soar-telescope">SOAR (Southern Astrophysical Research) telescope</a> in Chile. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Image plotting 500 years of 2020 XL5 orbits." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444108/original/file-20220202-21-1vs4ucu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444108/original/file-20220202-21-1vs4ucu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444108/original/file-20220202-21-1vs4ucu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444108/original/file-20220202-21-1vs4ucu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444108/original/file-20220202-21-1vs4ucu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444108/original/file-20220202-21-1vs4ucu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444108/original/file-20220202-21-1vs4ucu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">500 years of 2020 XL5 orbits plotted, relative to Earth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">By Phoenix7777 - Own workData source: HORIZONS System, JPL, NASA CC BY-SA 4.0</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Based on this data, a team led by planetary scientist <a href="https://astronomycommunity.nature.com/users/toni-santana-ros">Toni Santana-Ros</a> of the University of Alicante in Spain has <a href="https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2205/">now announced</a> that 2020 XL₅ is trapped for at least the next several thousand years in an orbit about one of the Sun-Earth “Lagrange points”. These are where the gravitational forces of the Earth and the Sun balance to create stable locations. It means the object keeps pace with the Earth as it goes round the Sun.</p>
<p>Lagrange points exist around other planets too, they are equilibrium points for any objects with small mass under the influence of any two much more massive bodies. There are three such points on the Sun-Earth line (L1, L2 and L3, see image below), first discovered mathematically by the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler. Spacecraft, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/james-webb-telescope-how-it-could-uncover-some-of-the-universes-best-kept-secrets-173717">James Webb Space Telecope</a> (at L2) and <a href="https://theconversation.com/moon-crashing-rocket-will-create-new-crater-heres-what-we-should-worry-about-175773">DSCOVR</a> (at L1), can be maintained there with only a small expenditure of fuel. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Lagrange points in relaton to Earth's orbit" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444250/original/file-20220203-25-1vqxt89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444250/original/file-20220203-25-1vqxt89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444250/original/file-20220203-25-1vqxt89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444250/original/file-20220203-25-1vqxt89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444250/original/file-20220203-25-1vqxt89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444250/original/file-20220203-25-1vqxt89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444250/original/file-20220203-25-1vqxt89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Lagrange points associated with Earth’s orbit (sizes and distances not to scale).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Two other points, L4 and L5, were discovered in 1772 by Euler’s student <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph-Louis_Lagrange">Joseph-Louis Lagrange</a>. Here, a small-mass object making an equilateral triangle with Sun and Earth is in a stable equilibrium. These points are 60 degrees ahead of and 60 degrees behind the Earth, and because 60 degrees (see image above) is one-sixth of the Earth’s orbit this amounts to two months separation. </p>
<p>If a small-mass object is perturbed so as to move away from L4 or L5, the combined gravity of the Sun and Earth draws it back – bending its path into a stable orbit around the Lagrange point that looks kidney bean shaped relative to Earth.</p>
<h2>XL5, but no fireball</h2>
<p>2020 XL₅ is being called a Trojan companion to the Earth by analogy with Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids. Jupiter shares its orbit with nearly ten thousand known asteroids, half of them ahead of Jupiter, and half behind. The first of those, discovered in 1906, was named Achilles after a central character at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-the-iliad-to-circe-cultures-enduring-fascination-with-the-myths-of-troy-127405">siege of Troy</a> in Homer’s Iliad. </p>
<p>A convention developed to name each one after a hero from the same story. Only those trailing Jupiter (clustered at the Sun-Jupiter L5 position) are given Trojan names, such as Hektor, whereas those ahead of Jupiter (at L4) are give Greek names, such as Achilles. Collectively, whether at L4 or L5 they are all referred to as Trojans. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Image showing asteroid positions, with Jupiter's Trojans in green" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444147/original/file-20220202-19-e2q97t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444147/original/file-20220202-19-e2q97t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444147/original/file-20220202-19-e2q97t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444147/original/file-20220202-19-e2q97t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444147/original/file-20220202-19-e2q97t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444147/original/file-20220202-19-e2q97t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444147/original/file-20220202-19-e2q97t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Asteroid positions, with Jupiter’s Trojans in green.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mdf at English Wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Small numbers of Trojan asteroids have now been discovered associated with Neptune (23), Uranus (1) and Mars (9). But 2020 XL₅ is only the second Trojan companion of Earth to have been found. The first, 2010 TK₇, was <a href="https://theconversation.com/earths-first-trojan-found-say-hello-to-our-little-friend-2525">discovered in 2010</a>. That’s only about 300 metres across, so 2020 XL₅ considerably outmasses it at about 1.2km across.</p>
<p>There are probably many more Earth Trojans, but they are hard to discover from Earth because they can only ever be seen fairly low in the pre-dawn sky if at L4 like both 2010 TK₇ and 2020 XL₅, or just after sunset if at L5 (where none have yet been found). Their orbits are not stable over millions of years, so they can’t be remnants that have been there ever since Earth’s formation but must have drifted into place later.</p>
<p>However, the SOAR observations were able to show that 2020 XL₅ appears to be a carbon-rich asteroid (called C-type). So it is a sample of what the Solar System was built from, and it would be instructive to study Earth’s Trojan companions in more detail as examples of unaltered material.</p>
<p>But could we mine them or use them in other ways? Santana-Ros notes that 2020 XL₅ has an orbit that bobs above and below Earth’s orbital plane. This means that to manoeuvre a spacecraft into a rendezvous (to orbit or land on it) would require considerable velocity change. That would probably need too much fuel to be practical. The same applies to 2010 TK₇.</p>
<p>However, the study points out that if other Earth Trojans are found in orbits that are less tilted, these might make handy bases as staging posts for exploration of the Solar System. They’d be much easier to take off from than from the Earth or Moon because their gravity is so slight. They could even be a source of resources that we could mine.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176272/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Rothery is Professor of Planetary Geosciences at the Open University. He is co-leader of the European Space Agency's Mercury Surface and Composition Working Group, and a Co-Investigator on MIXS (Mercury Imaging X-ray Spectrometer) that is now on its way to Mercury on board the European Space Agency's Mercury orbiter BepiColombo. He has received funding from the UK Space Agency and the Science & Technology Facilities Council for work related to Mercury and BepiColombo, and from the European Commission under its Horizon 2020 programme for work on planetary geological mapping (776276 Planmap). He is author of Planet Mercury - from Pale Pink Dot to Dynamic World (Springer, 2015), Moons: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2015) and Planets: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2010). He is Educator on the Open University's free learning Badged Open Course (BOC) on Moons and its equivalent FutureLearn Moons MOOC, and chair of the Open University's level 2 course on Planetary Science and the Search for Life.</span></em></p>There may be many more asteroids in the same orbit as Earth, some of which we might be able to mine.David Rothery, Professor of Planetary Geosciences, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1363952020-04-20T05:27:01Z2020-04-20T05:27:01ZGiant leap for corporations? The Trump administration wants to mine resources in space, but is it legal?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328976/original/file-20200420-152571-1jy5sv9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=91%2C66%2C5483%2C3067&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/spaceship-approaching-asteroid-dwarf-planet-mission-1146636272">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the world tries to cope with the challenges of 2020, discussions around the use of mined resources from outer space continue to ratchet up. </p>
<p>On April 6, the US White House released an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-encouraging-international-support-recovery-use-space-resources/">executive order</a> that Americans</p>
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<p>should have the right to engage in commercial exploration, recovery, and use of resources in outer space, consistent with applicable law.</p>
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<p>It also requires the US secretary of state to negotiate bilateral and multilateral arrangements with foreign states regarding future “public and private recovery and use of space resources”. </p>
<p>This edict prompts a fundamental legal and policy question: if the mining and use of space resources by governments and enterprises will ultimately take place, how will this be governed? </p>
<p>Broad international discussions on this topic among the now 95 member states (including Australia) of the <a href="https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/copuos/comm-subcomms.html">United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space</a> began in earnest in 2016. These were due to continue last month but <a href="https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/copuos/lsc/2020/index.html">were postponed</a> because of the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>To understand the impact of the US push for space mining, we need to consider the technological, commercial, legal, and historical contexts underpinning it. </p>
<h2>Fly me to the Moon</h2>
<p>Space is undeniably a challenging place for commercial activity. We have an understanding of the vast deposits of rare and valuable minerals such as gold, silver and platinum, and water sources that might be found on celestial bodies (including the moon and asteroids). That said, it would be technologically complex to fulfil any dreams of an off-Earth resources economy.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mining-asteroids-could-unlock-untold-wealth-heres-how-to-get-started-95675">Mining asteroids could unlock untold wealth – here's how to get started</a>
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<p>In 2019 the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa-2 <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50403272">successfully collected rock samples from the asteroid Ryugu</a>, roughly 300 million km from Earth. They are expected to arrive on Earth (<a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/news-media/australian-space-agency-news/australia-set-to-welcome-jaxas-hayabusa2">landing at Woomera in Australia</a>) in December. </p>
<p>Notwithstanding this achievement, extracting resources in sufficient quantities to support a moon base, for example, is a long way off, and processing such resources into useful substances such as fuel is further still. </p>
<p>But technological challenges haven’t stopped small start-ups and companies like <a href="https://www.blueorigin.com/">Blue Origin</a> from pitching everything from asteroid mining to <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/9/18550258/blue-origin-moon-lunar-lander-jeff-bezos-space">lunar fuel processing plants</a>.</p>
<p>Given the scale of the required investment, these companies need legal assurances. In 2015, the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2262/text">US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act</a> asserted the right of US companies to own and sell resources mined in space “obtained in accordance with applicable law, including the international obligations of the United States”. </p>
<p>The act prompted wide discussion on the scope of the relevant international law at the time, particularly as reflected in the Outer Space Treaty. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-should-work-together-in-the-race-to-mine-the-solar-system-55026">We should work together in the race to mine the solar system</a>
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<h2>To whom do (which) rules apply?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/outerspacetreaty.html">Outer Space Treaty of 1967</a> – to which 109 countries including Australia are states parties – sets out the fundamental principles that govern all space activities. </p>
<p>In addition to restricting the placement of nuclear weapons in Earth orbit and on celestial bodies (a momentous achievement in its own right), the treaty also expressly bans claims of sovereignty in outer space, including the moon, planets and asteroids. Instead, it declares space is free for exploration and use. This includes the exploitation of space natural resources within the terms of the principles by all nations.</p>
<p>Australia is also a party to the <a href="https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/moon-agreement.html">1979 Moon Agreement</a>, which allows mineral and other space resources to be used for scientific purposes and to support scientific missions. </p>
<p>It states when natural resources exploitation is “about to become feasible”, the state parties to that treaty will agree on an appropriate international regime. But the Moon Agreement has only 18 state parties, and was never agreed to by any major space power such as Russia, China or the US. </p>
<p>The US executive order acknowledges space resource mining activities are subject to international law. But from the US perspective, the relevant law is centred around the Outer Space Treaty, with the Moon Agreement playing no part.</p>
<h2>International reaction</h2>
<p>There’s little doubt there will be geopolitical pushback from other countries to the blunt language of the US Order. Russia has already <a href="https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/04/07/russia-compares-trumps-space-mining-order-to-colonialism-a69901">likened America’s approach to colonialism</a>.</p>
<p>But beyond the rhetoric, the White House order merely confirms what we already knew: the US wants its companies to be able to use space resources.</p>
<p>If space mining technologies are to be developed, and national governments aren’t in a position to fund such research, the private sector (with the necessary legal confidence) will have to put its own money on the table. </p>
<p>The executive order also confirms the US is committed to the Outer Space Treaty, which remains as important now as it was 1967, if not more so. Thankfully, this dispels worrying suggestions <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-115shrg29998/pdf/CHRG-115shrg29998.pdf">the US might consider withdrawing</a> from this most fundamental of space law instruments. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-the-world-embraces-space-the-50-year-old-outer-space-treaty-needs-adaptation-79833">As the world embraces space, the 50 year old Outer Space Treaty needs adaptation</a>
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<h2>Beyond agreeing a legal framework</h2>
<p>The Outer Space Treaty requires space activities be “carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries”. </p>
<p>Within legal discussions about the extraction and use of space resources, there are important questions regarding international wealth inequality, power structures, and where the roles and rights of private corporations intersect with international regulation. There are also debates to be had on the ethical and societal implications of mining the moon and other celestial bodies. </p>
<p>As we move from the “potential” towards the “reality” of space mining, there will certainly be many more governmental pronouncements from all corners of the earth. In every sense of the phrase, we’ll need to “watch this space”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136395/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Governments and corporations must get serious about the legal, technical, economic, social and ethical implications of a potential space-based resource economy.Steven Freeland, Professor of International Law, Western Sydney UniversityAnnie Handmer, PhD candidate, School of History and Philosophy of Science, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1138452019-03-22T06:27:14Z2019-03-22T06:27:14ZWhy dangerous asteroids heading to Earth are so hard to detect<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265255/original/file-20190322-195118-1fa6jbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3339%2C2057&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How close can a potentially dangerous asteroid get before it's detected?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Alexyz3d</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Earth is often in the firing line of fragments of asteroids and comets, most of which <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-why-meteors-light-up-the-night-sky-35754">burn up</a> tens of kilometres above our heads. But occasionally, something larger gets through. </p>
<p>That’s what happened off Russia’s east coast on December 18 last year. A <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47607696">giant explosion occurred above the Bering Sea</a> when an asteroid some ten metres across detonated with an explosive energy ten times greater than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.</p>
<p>So why didn’t we see this asteroid coming? And why are we only hearing about its explosive arrival now?</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/look-up-your-guide-to-some-of-the-best-meteor-showers-for-2019-106863">Look up! Your guide to some of the best meteor showers for 2019</a>
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<h2>Nobody saw it</h2>
<p>Had the December explosion occurred near a city – as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/feb/15/hundreds-injured-meteorite-russian-city-chelyabinsk">happened at Chelyabinsk in February 2013</a> – we would have heard all about it at the time.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fBLjB5qavxY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Plenty of people observed and captured the Chelyabinsk meteor explosion.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But because it happened in a remote part of the world, it went unremarked for more than three months, until details were unveiled at the <a href="https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2019/">50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference</a> this week, based on <a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/fireballs/">NASA’s collection of fireball data</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265251/original/file-20190322-195097-jsp81r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265251/original/file-20190322-195097-jsp81r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265251/original/file-20190322-195097-jsp81r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265251/original/file-20190322-195097-jsp81r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265251/original/file-20190322-195097-jsp81r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265251/original/file-20190322-195097-jsp81r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265251/original/file-20190322-195097-jsp81r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265251/original/file-20190322-195097-jsp81r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The 173kt fireball blast off Russia’s eastern coastline in December was the largest recorded since 2013’s fireball over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/fireballs/">NASA/JPL-Caltech/Center for Near Earth Object Studies</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So where did this asteroid come from?</p>
<h2>At risk from space debris</h2>
<p>The Solar system is littered with material left over from the formation of the planets. Most of it is locked up in stable reservoirs – the Asteroid belt, the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud – far from Earth. </p>
<p>Those reservoirs continually leak objects into interplanetary space, injecting fresh debris into orbits that cross those of the planets. The inner Solar system is awash with debris, ranging from tiny flecks of dust to comets and asteroids many kilometres in diameter.</p>
<p>The vast majority of the debris that collides with Earth is utterly harmless, but our planet still <a href="https://theconversation.com/target-earth-how-asteroids-made-an-impact-on-australia-92836">bears the scars of collisions</a> with much larger bodies. </p>
<p>The largest, most devastating impacts (like that which <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-dinosaurs-went-extinct-asteroid-collision-triggered-potentially-deadly-volcanic-eruptions-112134">helped to kill the dinosaurs</a> 65 million years ago) are the rarest. But smaller, more frequent collisions also pose a marked risk.</p>
<p>In 1908, in Tunguska, Siberia, a <a href="http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160706-in-siberia-in-1908-a-huge-explosion-came-out-of-nowhere">vast explosion</a> levelled more than 2,000 square kilometres of forest. Due to the remote location, no deaths were recorded. Had the impact happened just two hours later, the city of St Petersburg could have been destroyed.</p>
<p>In 2013, it was a 10,000-tonne asteroid that <a href="https://earthsky.org/space/meteor-asteroid-chelyabinsk-russia-feb-15-2013">detonated above the Russian city of Chelyabinsk</a>. More than 1,500 people were injured and around 7,000 buildings were damaged, but amazingly nobody was killed. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265252/original/file-20190322-195110-17x1ynm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265252/original/file-20190322-195110-17x1ynm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265252/original/file-20190322-195110-17x1ynm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265252/original/file-20190322-195110-17x1ynm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265252/original/file-20190322-195110-17x1ynm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265252/original/file-20190322-195110-17x1ynm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265252/original/file-20190322-195110-17x1ynm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265252/original/file-20190322-195110-17x1ynm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The meteor trail taken about 200km away from Chelyabinsk a minute after the blast in 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/alexeya/8475569087/">Flickr/Alex Alishevskikh</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>We’re still trying to work out how often events like this happen. Our information on the frequency of the larger impacts is pretty limited, so estimates can vary dramatically.</p>
<p>Typically, people argue that Tunguska-sized impacts happen <a href="https://academic.oup.com/astrogeo/article/50/1/1.18/201316">every few hundred years</a>, but that’s just based on a sample of one event. The truth is, we don’t really know.</p>
<h2>What can we do about it?</h2>
<p>Over the past couple of decades, a concerted effort has been made to search for potentially hazardous objects that pose a threat before they hit Earth. The result is the <a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/totals.html">identification of thousands of near-Earth asteroids</a> upwards of a few metres across.</p>
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<p>Once found, the orbits of those objects can be determined, and their paths <a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/">predicted into the future</a>, to see whether an impact is possible or even likely. The longer we can observe a given object, the better that prediction becomes. </p>
<p>But as we saw with Chelyabinsk in 2013, and again in December, we’re not there yet. While the catalogue of potentially hazardous objects continues to grow, many still remain undetected, waiting to catch us by surprise.</p>
<p>If we discover a collision is pending in the coming days, we can work out where and when the collision will happen. That happened for the first time in 2008 when astronomers discovered the tiny <a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/news/2008tc3.html">asteroid 2008 TC3</a>, 19 hours before it hit Earth’s atmosphere over northern Sudan. </p>
<p>For impacts predicted with a longer lead time, it will be possible to work out whether the object is truly dangerous, or would merely produce a spectacular but harmless fireball (like 2008 TC3).</p>
<p>For any objects that truly pose a threat, the race will be on to deflect them – to turn a hit into a miss.</p>
<h2>Searching the skies</h2>
<p>Before we can quantify the threat an object poses, we first need to know that the object is there. But finding asteroids is hard.</p>
<p>Surveys scour the skies, <a href="https://spaceguardcentre.com/what-are-neos/finding-and-observing-asteroids/">looking for faint star-like points moving against the background stars</a>. A bigger asteroid will reflect more sunlight, and therefore appear brighter in the sky - at a given distance from Earth. </p>
<p>As a result, the smaller the object, the closer it must be to Earth before we can spot it.</p>
<p>Objects the size of the Chelyabinsk and Bering Sea events (about 20 and 10 metres diameter, respectively) are tiny. They can only be spotted when passing very close to our planet. The vast majority of the time they are simply undetectable.</p>
<p>As a result, having impacts like these come out of the blue is really the norm, rather than the exception!</p>
<p>The Chelyabinsk impact is a great example. Moving on its orbit around the Sun, it approached us in the daylight sky - totally hidden in the Sun’s glare. </p>
<p>For larger objects, which impact much less frequently but would do far more damage, it is fair to expect we would receive some warning.</p>
<h2>Why not move the asteroid?</h2>
<p>While we need to keep searching for threatening objects, there is another way we could protect ourselves.</p>
<p>Missions such as <a href="https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/hayabusa/in-depth/">Hayabusa</a>, <a href="http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/en/">Hayabusa 2</a> and <a href="https://www.asteroidmission.org/">OSIRIS-REx</a> have demonstrated the ability to travel to near-Earth asteroids, land on their surfaces, and move things around. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265259/original/file-20190322-36273-1tgxglt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265259/original/file-20190322-36273-1tgxglt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265259/original/file-20190322-36273-1tgxglt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265259/original/file-20190322-36273-1tgxglt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265259/original/file-20190322-36273-1tgxglt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265259/original/file-20190322-36273-1tgxglt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265259/original/file-20190322-36273-1tgxglt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265259/original/file-20190322-36273-1tgxglt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This artist’s concept shows the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft contacting the asteroid Bennu.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/osiris-rex-grabs-a-sample">NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center</a></span>
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<p>From there, it is just a short hop to being able to deflect them – to change a potential collision into a near-miss. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-dinosaurs-went-extinct-asteroid-collision-triggered-potentially-deadly-volcanic-eruptions-112134">How the dinosaurs went extinct: asteroid collision triggered potentially deadly volcanic eruptions</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>Interestingly, ideas of asteroid deflection dovetail nicely with the <a href="https://theconversation.com/mining-asteroids-could-unlock-untold-wealth-heres-how-to-get-started-95675">possibility of asteroid mining</a>.</p>
<p>The technology needed to extract material from an asteroid and send it back to Earth could equally be used to alter the orbit of that asteroid, moving it away from a potential collision with our planet.</p>
<p>We’re not quite there yet, but for the first time in our history, we have the potential to truly control our own destiny.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113845/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonti Horner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We’re finding more near-Earth objects all the time, and the challenge is to identify those that could potentially hit us. So how come we missed one that caused a huge blast in December?Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/999742018-07-20T10:45:55Z2018-07-20T10:45:55ZWho owns the moon? A space lawyer answers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227918/original/file-20180717-44079-dricjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C291%2C2973%2C2011&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Edwin E. 'Buzz' Aldrin Jr. poses for a photograph beside the U.S. flag deployed on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission on July 20, 1969. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-Domestic-News-In-Space-APOLLO-/c636ab3889e6da11af9f0014c2589dfb/2/1">Neil A. Armstrong/NASA/AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most likely, this is the best-known picture of a flag ever taken: Buzz Aldrin standing next to the first U.S. flag planted on the Moon. For those who knew their world history, it also rang some alarm bells. Only less than a century ago, back on Earth, planting a national flag in another part of the world still amounted to claiming that territory for the fatherland. Did the Stars and Stripes on the moon signify the establishment of an American colony? </p>
<p>When people hear for the first time that I am a lawyer practicing and teaching something called “space law,” the question they ask most frequently, often with a big smile or a twinkle in the eye, is: “So tell me, who owns the moon?”</p>
<p>Of course, claiming new national territories had been very much a European habit, applied to non-European parts of the world. In particular the Portuguese, the Spanish, the Dutch, the French and the English created huge colonial empires. But while their attitude was very Europe-centric, the legal notion that planting a flag was an act of establishing sovereignty quickly stuck and became accepted worldwide as part and parcel of the law of nations.</p>
<p>Obviously, the astronauts had more important things on their mind than contemplating the legal meaning and consequences of that planted flag, but luckily the issue had been taken care of prior to the mission. Since the beginning of the space race the United States knew that for many people around the world the sight of a U.S. flag on the Moon would raise major political issues. Any suggestion that the moon might become, legally speaking, part of U.S. backwaters might fuel such concerns, and possibly give rise to international disputes harmful to both the U.S. space program and U.S. interests as a whole. </p>
<p>By 1969, decolonization may have destroyed any notion that non-European parts of the world, though populated, were not civilized and thus justifiably made subject to European sovereignty – however, there was not a single person living on the moon; even life itself was absent. </p>
<p>Still, the simple answer to the question of whether Armstrong and Aldrin by way of their small ceremony did transform the moon, or at least a major part thereof, into U.S. territory turns out to be “no.” They, nor NASA, nor the U.S. government intended the U.S. flag to have that effect. </p>
<h2>The first outer space treaty</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228298/original/file-20180718-142417-1v54x1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228298/original/file-20180718-142417-1v54x1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228298/original/file-20180718-142417-1v54x1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228298/original/file-20180718-142417-1v54x1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228298/original/file-20180718-142417-1v54x1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228298/original/file-20180718-142417-1v54x1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228298/original/file-20180718-142417-1v54x1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228298/original/file-20180718-142417-1v54x1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">NASA Lunar Sample Return Container with moon soil on display in a vault at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NASA_Lunar_Sample_Return_Container.jpg">OptoMechEngineer</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most importantly, that answer was enshrined in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, to which both the United States and the Soviet Union as well as all other space-faring nations, had become a party. Both superpowers agreed that “colonization” on Earth had been responsible for tremendous human suffering and many armed conflicts that had raged over the last centuries. They were determined not to repeat that mistake of the old European colonial powers when it came to decide on the legal status of the moon; at least the possibility of a “land grab” in outer space giving rise to another world war was to be avoided. By that token, the moon became something of a “global commons” legally accessible to all countries – two years prior to the first actual manned moon landing.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228453/original/file-20180719-142405-1unz7bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228453/original/file-20180719-142405-1unz7bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228453/original/file-20180719-142405-1unz7bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228453/original/file-20180719-142405-1unz7bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228453/original/file-20180719-142405-1unz7bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228453/original/file-20180719-142405-1unz7bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228453/original/file-20180719-142405-1unz7bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228453/original/file-20180719-142405-1unz7bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Businessman Rajzeev V. Baagree, who purchased five acres of land on the moon for 1,400 rupees (equivalent to US$31 in 2005) per acre, poses next to documents of proof, at his home in Hyderabad, India. It turned out he got scammed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-International-News-India-INDIA-/039e7568d9e4da11af9f0014c2589dfb/3/0">Mustafa Quraishi/ AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So, the U.S. flag was not a manifestation of claiming sovereignty, but of honoring the U.S. taxpayers and engineers who made Armstrong, Aldrin, and third astronaut Michael Collins’ mission possible. The two men carried a plaque that they “came in peace for all mankind,” and of course Neil’s famous words echoed the same sentiment: his “<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11.html">small step for man</a>” was not a “giant leap” for the United States, but “for mankind.” Furthermore, the United States and NASA lived up to their commitment by sharing the moon rocks and other samples of soil from the lunar surface with the rest of the world, whether by giving them away to foreign governments or by allowing scientists from all over the globe to access them for scientific analysis and discussion. In the midst of the Cold War, this even included scientists from the Soviet Union.</p>
<p>Case closed, no need for space lawyers anymore then? No need for me to prepare University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s space law students for further discussions and disputes on the lunar law, right? </p>
<h2>No space lawyers needed?</h2>
<p>Not so fast. While the legal status of the Moon as a “global commons” accessible to all countries on peaceful missions did not meet any substantial resistance or challenge, the <a href="http://www.unoosa.org/res/oosadoc/data/documents/2017/stspace/stspace61rev_2_0_html/V1605998-ENGLISH.pdf">Outer Space Treaty</a> left further details unsettled. Contrary to the very optimistic assumptions made at the time, so far humankind has not returned to the moon since 1972, making lunar land rights largely theoretical. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228290/original/file-20180718-142408-capxn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228290/original/file-20180718-142408-capxn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228290/original/file-20180718-142408-capxn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228290/original/file-20180718-142408-capxn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228290/original/file-20180718-142408-capxn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228290/original/file-20180718-142408-capxn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228290/original/file-20180718-142408-capxn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This 1964 file photo from the World’s Fair in the borough of Queens in New York shows a views of a moon colony in the Futurama 2 ride put together by General Motors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/World-Fair-Technology/ea31097cc74e4f1a9bbef3dd84242e3e/1/0">AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That is, until a few years ago when several new plans were hatched to go back to the moon. In addition at least two U.S. companies, <a href="https://www.planetaryresources.com/#home-intro">Planetary Resources</a> and <a href="https://deepspaceindustries.com">Deep Space Industries</a>, which have serious financial backing, have started targeting asteroids for the purpose of mining their mineral resources. Geek note: Under the aforementioned Outer Space Treaty, the moon and other celestial bodies such as asteroids, legally speaking, belong in the same basket. None of them can become the “territory” of one sovereign state or another.</p>
<p>The very fundamental prohibition under the Outer Space Treaty to acquire new state territory, by planting a flag or by any other means, failed to address the commercial exploitation of natural resources on the moon and other celestial bodies. This is a <a href="http://doi.org/10.1093/ulr/uny022">major debate</a> currently raging in the international community, with no unequivocally accepted solution in sight yet. Roughly, there are two general interpretations possible.</p>
<h2>So you want to mine an asteroid?</h2>
<p><a href="https://digitalcommons.law.msu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1233&context=ilr">Countries such as the United States and Luxembourg (as the gateway to the European Union) agree that the moon and asteroids are “global commons,”</a> which means that each country allows its private entrepreneurs, as long as duly licensed and in compliance with other relevant rules of space law, to go out there and extract what they can, to try and make money with it. It’s a bit like the law of the high seas, which are not under the control of an individual country, but completely open to duly licensed law-abiding fishing operations from any country’s citizens and companies. Then, once the fish is in their nets, it is legally theirs to sell.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228286/original/file-20180718-142411-8unakp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228286/original/file-20180718-142411-8unakp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228286/original/file-20180718-142411-8unakp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228286/original/file-20180718-142411-8unakp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228286/original/file-20180718-142411-8unakp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228286/original/file-20180718-142411-8unakp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228286/original/file-20180718-142411-8unakp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">OSIRIS-REx will travel to a near-Earth asteroid called Bennu and bring a small sample back to Earth for study. The mission launched Sept. 8, 2016, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. As planned, the spacecraft will reach Bennu in 2018 and return a sample to Earth in 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Space-Asteroid-Chase/20c047ec48f74f6995ffad6b0f54422c/7/0">NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/ASSOCIATED PRESS</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the other hand, <a href="https://digitalcommons.law.msu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1233&context=ilr">countries such as Russia and somewhat less explicitly Brazil and Belgium</a> hold that the moon and asteroids belong to humanity as a whole. And therefore the potential benefits from commercial exploitation should somehow accrue for humanity as a whole – or at least should be subjected to a presumably rigorous international regime to guarantee humanity-wide benefits. It’s a bit like the regime originally established for harvesting mineral resources from the deep seabed. Here, an international licensing regime was created as well as an international enterprise, which was to mine those resources and generally share the benefits among all countries.</p>
<p>While in my view the former position certainly would make more sense, both legally and practically, the legal battle by no means is over. Meanwhile, the interest in the moon has been renewed as well – at least China, India and Japan have serious plans to go back there, raising the stakes even higher. Therefore, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln we will need to teach our students about these issues for many years to come. While ultimately it is up to the community of states to determine whether common agreement can be reached on either of the two positions or maybe somewhere in between, it is of crucial importance that agreement can be reached one way or another. Such activities developing without any law that is generally applicable and accepted would be a worst-case scenario. While not a matter of colonization anymore, it may have all the same harmful results.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99974/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frans von der Dunk has a consultancy addressing issues of space law and policy.</span></em></p>Fifty years ago, on July 20, 1969, American astronauts planted a US flag on the moon. A space lawyer explains the implications, who owns the moon, and what it means for lunar mining.Frans von der Dunk, Professor of Space Law, University of Nebraska-LincolnLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/988782018-06-27T08:49:36Z2018-06-27T08:49:36ZEight ethical questions about exploring outer space that need answers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224917/original/file-20180626-112604-ieul2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Blast off. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/space-exploration-background-mixed-media-519472267?src=Wf2opYG55d1aspAIUgTwwA-1-1">Sergey Nivens</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Metallic shrapnel flying faster than bullets; the Space Shuttle smashed to pieces; astronauts killed or ejected into space. The culprit? Space debris – remnants of a Russian satellite blown up by a Russian missile. The one survivor, Ryan Stone, has to find her way back to Earth with oxygen supplies failing and the nearest viable spacecraft hundreds of miles away. </p>
<p>Over on Mars, 20 years in the future, an exploration mission from Earth is going wrong. An epic dust storm forces the crew to abandon the planet, leaving behind an astronaut, Mark Watney, who is presumed dead. He has to figure out how to grow food while awaiting rescue.</p>
<p>Hollywood knows how to terrify and inspire us about outer space. Movies like <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454468/">Gravity</a> (2013) and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3659388/">The Martian</a> (2015), present space as hostile and unpredictable – spelling danger for any intrepid human who dares to venture outside Earth’s hospitable confines.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224919/original/file-20180626-112641-pvqd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224919/original/file-20180626-112641-pvqd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224919/original/file-20180626-112641-pvqd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224919/original/file-20180626-112641-pvqd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224919/original/file-20180626-112641-pvqd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224919/original/file-20180626-112641-pvqd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224919/original/file-20180626-112641-pvqd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224919/original/file-20180626-112641-pvqd9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Matt Damon is …</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/san-francisco-november-4-2017-martian-748233988?src=0VXU797DRwWxNbcR53RzEg-1-24">Pe3k</a></span>
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<p>This is only part of the story, however – the bit with people centre stage. Sure, no one wants to see astronauts killed or stranded in space. And we all want to enjoy the fruits of successful planetary science, like determining <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-do-you-find-exoplanets-24153">which planets</a> could host human life or simply whether we’re alone in the universe. </p>
<h2>Valuing space</h2>
<p>But should we care about the universe beyond how it affects us as humans? That is the big question – call it question #1 of extraterrestrial environmental ethics, a field too many people have ignored for too long. I’m one of a <a href="http://ceppa.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/research-projects/exoplanet-ethics/">group of researchers</a> at the University of St Andrews trying to change that. How we ought to value the universe depends on two other intriguing philosophical questions:</p>
<p>Question #2: the <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-we-are-to-find-life-beyond-earth-we-need-to-be-explorers-not-hunters-45001">kind of life</a> we are <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-hunt-for-life-on-mars-new-findings-on-rock-chimneys-could-hold-key-to-success-97998">most likely</a> to discover elsewhere is <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-rover-could-discover-life-on-mars-heres-what-it-would-take-to-prove-it-89625">microbial</a> – so how should we view this lifeform? Most people would accept that all humans have intrinsic value, and matter not only in relation to their usefulness to someone else. Accept this and it follows that ethics places limits on how we may treat them and their living spaces. </p>
<p>People are <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/historical-timeline-of-animal-rights-movement-127594">starting to</a> accept that the same is true of mammals, birds and other animals. So what about microbial beings? Some philosophers like Albert Schweitzer and Paul Taylor <a href="https://study.com/academy/lesson/biocentrism-in-environmental-ethics.html">have previously argued</a> that all living things have a value in themselves, which would obviously include microbes. Philosophy as a whole has not reached a consensus, however, on whether it agrees with this so-called biocentrism. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224920/original/file-20180626-112604-o8mju1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224920/original/file-20180626-112604-o8mju1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224920/original/file-20180626-112604-o8mju1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224920/original/file-20180626-112604-o8mju1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224920/original/file-20180626-112604-o8mju1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224920/original/file-20180626-112604-o8mju1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224920/original/file-20180626-112604-o8mju1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224920/original/file-20180626-112604-o8mju1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘What do we want, rights for microbes …’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/abstract-background-germs-microorganism-cells-under-678600079?src=bXyBmuHE2IFDaxJmHHuiGw-1-72">Who is Danny</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Question #3: for planets and other places not hospitable to life, what value should we place on their environment? Arguably we care about our environment on Earth primarily because it supports the species that live here. If so, we might extend the same thinking to other planets and moons that can support life. </p>
<p>But this doesn’t work for “dead” planets. Some <a href="https://www.sdcity.edu/Portals/0/CollegeServices/StudentSupportResources/learning-communities/Philosophical%20Problems%20for%20Environmentalism.pdf">have proposed</a> an idea called aesthetic value, that certain things should be treasured not because they are useful but because they are aesthetically wonderful. They have applied this not only to great artistic works like Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and Beethoven’s Fifth, but also to parts of the Earth’s environment, such as the Grand Canyon. Could that apply to other planets?</p>
<h2>Alien environments</h2>
<p>Supposing we could answer these theoretical questions, we could proceed to four important practical questions about space exploration:</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224918/original/file-20180626-112598-wvw5he.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224918/original/file-20180626-112598-wvw5he.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224918/original/file-20180626-112598-wvw5he.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224918/original/file-20180626-112598-wvw5he.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224918/original/file-20180626-112598-wvw5he.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224918/original/file-20180626-112598-wvw5he.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224918/original/file-20180626-112598-wvw5he.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224918/original/file-20180626-112598-wvw5he.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Yip yip.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/airchinapilot/2976214346/in/photolist-5wZSQs-qwJXQw-jYhDZD-cUYaNo-9QLmcN-7Vp7gb-23rEPi6-pQsDne-e3jsXd-VVYcwy-HcbizT-aoyaja-aJfUvX-66F8Tb-4dFQWN-dfXGfd-dp8Q91-qLiH9e-7r8xkd-SBMDFe-aqYtky-88ydwt-u9PMJ9-qPiace-7Hdepi-pqa8Zf-71HcCo-8AReey-dPDrfQ-6RJSzV-TARcNo-5uuE5g-7BSzXq-9t292n-7FT2fV-bxxLKZ-suCumU-qvowFh-hE8nH3-dWCUsD-4MHChw-e6PhBG-65VZtc-Wk4V1N-23FUTEF-a6RkqQ-26t2Xsa-5QwbXY-tk4yk4-aJfVjp">Keith Loh</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Question #4: is there a duty to protect the environment on other planets? When it comes to sending astronauts, instruments or robots to other worlds, there are clearly important scientific reasons for <a href="https://theconversation.com/mars-contamination-planetary-protection-and-the-search-for-life-48363">making sure</a> they don’t take terrestrial organisms with them and wind up depositing them there. </p>
<p>Otherwise, if we discovered life, we wouldn’t know whether it was indigenous – not to mention the risk of wiping it out entirely. But is scientific clarity all that matters, or do we need to start thinking about galactic environmental protection?</p>
<p>Question #5: what, besides biological contamination, would count as violating such an obligation to treat that planet’s environment with respect? Drilling for core samples, perhaps, or leaving instruments behind, or putting tyre tracks in the dirt? </p>
<p>Question #6: what about asteroids? The race is well underway to develop technology to harvest the untold trillions of pounds of mineral wealth presumed to exist on asteroids, as <a href="https://theconversation.com/mining-asteroids-could-unlock-untold-wealth-heres-how-to-get-started-95675">already reported</a> in The Conversation. It helps that no one seems to think of asteroids as environments we need to protect. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224922/original/file-20180626-112598-duxifc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224922/original/file-20180626-112598-duxifc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224922/original/file-20180626-112598-duxifc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224922/original/file-20180626-112598-duxifc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224922/original/file-20180626-112598-duxifc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224922/original/file-20180626-112598-duxifc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224922/original/file-20180626-112598-duxifc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224922/original/file-20180626-112598-duxifc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gold in them craters.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/asteroidal-landscape-strewn-rubble-starfield-horizon-3139158?src=wdDSfgAAOu05zbhRux2QBg-1-98">Jan Kaliciak</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The same goes for empty space. The movie Gravity gave us some human-centred reasons to be worried about the buildup of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-clean-up-space-debris-using-game-theory-50347">debris in space</a>, but might there be other reasons to object? If so, would our obligation be to merely create less debris, or something stronger – like not producing any new debris or even cleaning up what we’ve left already?</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Read more: <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-seven-most-extreme-planets-ever-discovered-78959">The seven most extreme planets ever discovered</a></strong></em> </p>
<hr>
<p>Question #7: what considerations might offset arguments in favour of behaving ethically in space? Of the various reasons for going there – intellectual/scientific, utilitarian, profit-driven – are any strong enough to override our obligations? </p>
<p>We also need to factor in the inevitable risks and uncertainties here. We can’t know what benefits space missions will have. We can’t be certain of not biologically contaminating the planets we visit. What risk/reward trade-offs should we be willing to undertake?</p>
<h2>Terra-ism</h2>
<p>Discussions about outer space have the advantage that we have very little attachment to anything out there. These ethical questions might therefore be some of the only ones humans can address with a large measure of emotional distance. For this reason, answering them might help us to make progress with Earth-bound issues like global warming, mass extinction and nuclear waste disposal. </p>
<p>Space exploration also directly raises questions about our relationship to Earth – once we overcome the technological puzzles preventing <a href="https://www.universetoday.com/113346/how-do-we-terraform-mars/">the terraforming</a> of a planet like Mars, or find ways of reaching habitable exoplanets. I’ll leave you with one extremely important one for the future: </p>
<p>Question #8: given that the Earth is not the only potential home for human beings, what reasons for protecting its environment would remain once we can realistically go somewhere else?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98878/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin Sachs receives funding from the Royal Society of Edinburgh.</span></em></p>Nearly 50 years since the first man walked on the moon, our morals are still stranded on Earth.Benjamin Sachs-Cobbe, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of St AndrewsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/727352017-02-12T19:14:46Z2017-02-12T19:14:46ZWhy it’s time for Australia to launch its own space agency<p>Any nation that hopes to have a space program needs to be able to keep an eye on its orbiting assets at all times. This means that Australia has become a key link in the global chain of ground-based tracking stations.</p>
<p>The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/">NASA</a>) has a deep space tracking facility at <a href="http://www.cdscc.nasa.gov/">Tidbinbilla</a> in the ACT, managed by the CSIRO, and the European Space Agency (<a href="http://www.esa.int/ESA">ESA</a>) has one in <a href="http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Estrack/New_Norcia_-_DSA_1">New Norcia</a>, Western Australia.</p>
<p>The New Norcia station plays a further role as it picks up and tracks the ESA launches from French Guiana as they curve across the Indian Ocean on their way to Earth orbit or beyond. </p>
<p>This means that Australia plays a critical role in many other countries’ space programs. Right now, about 40 space missions – including deep space planetary explorers, Mars rovers, solar observatories and astronomical space observatories – are routinely downlinking their data through radio dishes on Australian soil. </p>
<p>This uniquely acquired data is then piped out of the country to the eagerly waiting US and European scientific communities, bypassing our own.</p>
<p>If Australia is to capitalise on its strengths in space tracking as well as space science, and is to get on board with the burgeoning commercial space industry, it’s time that we considered forming a space agency of our own.</p>
<p>A space agency serves several roles. First and foremost is the creation of coherence across a complex sector. In particular, the agency would need to coordinate and drive the development of homegrown space technologies. </p>
<p>It can develop collaborative space missions with partner agencies, operate and manage diverse space platforms, engage in the establishment of space protocols, and participate in the exploration of the Solar System and the study of the Universe. It can also oversee the management of the Australian landmass, oceans and atmosphere, and help provide sovereign security. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156293/original/image-20170210-8646-1wskauz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156293/original/image-20170210-8646-1wskauz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156293/original/image-20170210-8646-1wskauz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156293/original/image-20170210-8646-1wskauz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156293/original/image-20170210-8646-1wskauz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156293/original/image-20170210-8646-1wskauz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156293/original/image-20170210-8646-1wskauz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156293/original/image-20170210-8646-1wskauz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, located at Tidbinbilla, just outside Canberra, is one of three Deep Space Network stations around the world providing continuous, two-way radio contact with spacecraft exploring our solar system and beyond.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.scienceimage.csiro.au/image/11042/aerial-view-of-the-canberra-deep-space-communication-complex/">CSIRO/Robert Kerton</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Beyond the horizon</h2>
<p>Australia’s vital role was established on the back of the Apollo space program, as celebrated in the movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0205873/">The Dish</a>. This is a direct consequence of Earth’s rotation and the need for continuous communications, particularly during critical phases such as launches, landings and flybys. </p>
<p>These downlink facilities are now being actively “geared up” for the <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/journey-to-mars-supported-by-new-canberran-antenna-20161102-gsg1nv.html">global push to Mars</a>, with the recent addition of two new dishes at Tidbinbilla and the likely addition of a new dish at New Norcia. </p>
<p>Even with these planned expansions, the demand for further capacity is clear. NASA’s next flagship mission in planning is the <a href="https://wfirst.nasa.gov/">Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope</a>, a deep space near-infrared imager 100 times more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope. This requires an additional dish in Australia, or the redeployment of an existing Australian facility.</p>
<p>This ongoing expansion is driven by a need to manage the rapidly growing fleet of active spacecraft, as well as higher download rates coming from more complex in-flight instruments. </p>
<p>The space industry, like space itself, is expanding. Next-generation astronomy facilities are moving into space, there are plans to <a href="https://theconversation.com/space-mining-is-closer-than-you-think-and-the-prospects-are-great-45707">mine asteroids</a>, and planetary probes are becoming more ambitious. There are also fledgling plans to send a crewed mission to Mars. </p>
<p>Indeed, the commercial sector may well reach the mineral-rich asteroids first, and will need powerful radio dishes at Australian longitudes to navigate those landings, launches and eventual returns.</p>
<p>Australia does have its own leading radio observatories, highly skilled radio engineers and radio astronomers, but has so far managed to avoid any deep collaborative engagement with the space sector. </p>
<p>No one is suggesting that the data we receive on behalf of NASA or the ESA should be held to ransom, but it is worth asking whether we should be doing more to capitalise on our lucky longitude, and gradually transfer the downlink burden from NASA and ESA to Australia. </p>
<p>In return, Australia could obtain direct collaborative involvement in existing and future missions, as well as assistance in kick-starting our own fledgling space capabilities. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156295/original/image-20170210-8651-1uruo06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156295/original/image-20170210-8651-1uruo06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156295/original/image-20170210-8651-1uruo06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156295/original/image-20170210-8651-1uruo06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156295/original/image-20170210-8651-1uruo06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156295/original/image-20170210-8651-1uruo06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156295/original/image-20170210-8651-1uruo06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156295/original/image-20170210-8651-1uruo06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">ESA’s deep-space tracking dish at New Norcia, in Western Australia, about 120 km from Perth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ESA/D. O'Donnell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Within NASA and ESA there does appear to be an appetite for deeper engagement. Operating these facilities from afar is not ideal. Indeed, the operations contracts are managed through third party organisations, with <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Astronomy/Spacecraft-tracking-and-space-science/NASA-CSIRO-relationship">CSIRO</a> for NASA and the UK-based <a href="http://www.inmarsat.com/">Inmarsat</a> for ESA. However, these organisations act mainly in a service and support capacity and while CSIRO is involved in the development and construction of the radio technologies, the engagement in terms of space collaboration and as a science beneficiary is lacking.</p>
<p>Economically, the arguments have been laid out before. It is simply a fact that space is a rapidly growing sector presenting superb opportunities for financial and economic prosperity, as well as the expansion of human knowledge and endeavour. </p>
<p>Joining this industry as a meaningful player at this late stage is not going to be easy, but is undoubtedly critical for our economic and scientific future and our security. </p>
<p>Building on our unique longitude legacy could provide the bedrock on which we can establish ourselves at the heart of NASA and ESA endeavours. Even better, this opportunity opens the door to space, through government investment in Australian-based construction projects and Australian-based operation centres.</p>
<p>We simply need an Australian Space Agency to manage the process.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72735/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Driver receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is affiliated with the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) and most of his research activities involve analysing data from NASA and ESA space missions.</span></em></p>An Australian Space Agency could capitalise on our history working with NASA and the ESA and boost our entry into the expanding commercial space industry.Simon Driver, Professor of Astrophysics, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/589732016-06-01T15:51:20Z2016-06-01T15:51:20ZHow to capture an asteroid – and why we should go to such trouble<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122314/original/image-20160512-16438-1e21xkf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Asteroids were once viewed as the vermin of the sky, disrupting astronomical observations by leaving streaks on long-exposure photographic plates used to take pictures of the stars. How times have changed. These remnants of the early solar system are now seen as key targets for space science and, just possibly, for future space commerce.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/hayabusa/">Japanese Hayabusa</a> spacecraft successfully returned grains of dust from asteroid Itokawa in 2010. And NASA have drawn up plans for an Asteroid Redirect Mission to bring back <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/content/what-is-nasa-s-asteroid-redirect-mission">an entire boulder</a> from a near Earth asteroid and park it in orbit about the moon. <a href="http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/house-appropriators-reject-asteroid-redirect-mission-want-astronauts-on-moon">Recent NASA funding changes</a> mean the project’s future now looks uncertain, but there’s still good reasons for developing the capability that will help us capture an asteroid.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122316/original/image-20160512-16410-slfcb7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122316/original/image-20160512-16410-slfcb7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122316/original/image-20160512-16410-slfcb7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122316/original/image-20160512-16410-slfcb7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122316/original/image-20160512-16410-slfcb7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122316/original/image-20160512-16410-slfcb7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122316/original/image-20160512-16410-slfcb7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Left a bit, left a bit…</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So, how could it be done? First, NASA would launch a large robotic spacecraft using a chemical rocket and a highly efficient solar <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdm/sep/">electric propulsion system</a> that would enable it to travel to a suitable target asteroid. The spacecraft would then carefully approach the asteroid and snatch a large multi-tonne boulder using a robotic grapple, before finally hauling the boulder back to the moon. Once parked in orbit about the moon, the captured boulder would provide an easily accessible target for a future crewed mission to explore sometime in the 2020s.</p>
<p>The asteroid mission would also provide an opportunity to test a way of nudging asteroids out of their current orbit. This “<a href="http://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0509595.pdf">gravity tractor mechanism</a>” could be useful if an asteroid is ever found to be on a collision course with Earth. Once the spacecraft had captured the boulder, it would orbit the asteroid and fire its solar electric propulsion system. As the boulder moved with the spacecraft, it would also very gently pull the asteroid along due to the weak gravitational attraction between the two. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122320/original/image-20160512-13529-129uyha.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122320/original/image-20160512-13529-129uyha.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122320/original/image-20160512-13529-129uyha.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122320/original/image-20160512-13529-129uyha.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122320/original/image-20160512-13529-129uyha.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122320/original/image-20160512-13529-129uyha.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122320/original/image-20160512-13529-129uyha.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bringing home the boulders.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why is it worth it?</h2>
<p>Aside from creating opportunities for some fascinating space science, capturing and delivering a large boulder to the moon would open new ways of using asteroid resources. A key element of human spaceflight, whether <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-human-spaceflight-missions-to-look-forward-to-in-the-next-decade-58234">deep space</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-business-is-taking-the-space-race-to-new-frontiers-51376">space tourism,</a> is the provision of water. But even if future launch costs fall as low as say $1,000 per kg (current costs vary but are around $10,000 per kg), bulk water delivered to low Earth orbit would still be at least 20 times more expensive per litre than a good single malt whisky.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122321/original/image-20160512-16431-12hc14i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122321/original/image-20160512-16431-12hc14i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122321/original/image-20160512-16431-12hc14i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122321/original/image-20160512-16431-12hc14i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122321/original/image-20160512-16431-12hc14i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122321/original/image-20160512-16431-12hc14i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122321/original/image-20160512-16431-12hc14i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Yep, it’s definitely a rock.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Water is available in the form of ice in shaded craters on the moon, but it would take so much energy to lift it from the surface into orbit that it could be easier to extract it from asteroids. <a href="http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/98035/">Our studies</a> have shown that a useful quantity of water is available in the family of near Earth asteroids and that there are a number of <a href="http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/98023/">easily accessible targets</a>. We could extract the water from the target rocks by bagging them in plastic and using solar heat to bake out the water resource. </p>
<p>This water could supply not only national space agencies and <a href="https://theconversation.com/living-in-a-bubble-inflatable-modules-could-be-the-future-of-space-habitats-57570">future space tourists</a>, but also satellite operators who could “crack” the water using solar-generated electricity to get at the hydrogen and oxygen it’s composed of to use as fuel. In this way, asteroid water could create fuel for space tugs travelling between low Earth orbit and higher geostationary orbit where most communications satellites sit.</p>
<p>While the multiple goals of the Asteroid Redirect Mission provide exciting opportunities, there is perhaps the nagging question of risk. If an objective of the mission is to demonstrate the deflection of near Earth asteroids, why deliberately push part of one onto an Earth return trajectory? Reassuringly, the boulder would actually be left in a stable orbit about the moon, and in any case the size of boulder to be returned would quickly burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere in the event of a mishap. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3UkEximY6lc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Although it seems to have lost political backing for the time-being, the NASA Asteroid Redirect Mission represents an important proof of concept for asteroid capture and return. If we can later engineer truly practical schemes to extract and return water (and other materials) from near Earth asteroids at a cost less than lifting it out of the Earth’s deep gravity well, then someone will have a viable business.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58973/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Colin McInnes is part supported by a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award for work on ‘Ultra-low energy trajectories for near Earth asteroid capture and return’. His prior work on asteroid capture was supported by the European Research Council VISIONSPACE project (2009-2014).</span></em></p>NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission has had its funding cut. Here’s why politicians should think again.Colin McInnes, James Watt Chair, Professor of Engineering Science, University of GlasgowLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/577402016-04-17T20:08:21Z2016-04-17T20:08:21ZAll of humanity should share in the space mining boom<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118848/original/image-20160415-11423-ze4yn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There could be great wealth out there. But who benefits from it?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA/JPL-Caltech</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>One solitary asteroid might be worth <a href="http://www.basicbooks.com/full-details?isbn=9780201328196">trillions of dollars</a> in platinum and other metals. Exploiting these resources could lead to a global boom in wealth, which could raise living standards worldwide and potentially benefit all of humanity.</p>
<p>There are already companies, such as <a href="http://www.planetaryresources.com/#home-intro">Planetary Resources</a>, hoping to make mining in space a reality. </p>
<p>Peter Diamondis, co-founder of Planetary Resources and founder of the <a href="http://www.xprize.org/grand-challenges">XPrize Grand Challenges</a>, believes that the benefits to humanity give us a moral imperative to explore and utilise space. He has also <a href="http://harvardlpr.com/2016/03/14/navigations-through-a-legal-asteroid-belt/">declared</a> “there are twenty-trillion-dollar checks up there, waiting to be cashed!”</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7fYYPN0BdBw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Planetary Resources co-founder Peter Diamandis on the virtues of space mining.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, behind the utopian rhetoric and dazzling dreams of riches lie some very real problems. </p>
<h2>Ownership and the Outer Space Treaty</h2>
<p>The framework of international space law is given by the Outer Space Treaty (<a href="http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/introouterspacetreaty.html">OST</a>), which entered into force in 1967. Among its main principals, the OST includes <a href="http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/introouterspacetreaty.html">these statements</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind </p>
</blockquote>
<p>and,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>outer space is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Because the OST is generally interpreted as preventing anything like private <a href="http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/fee+simple">fee-simple ownership</a>, it is sometimes claimed to be an obstacle to commercial ventures in space. But such claims simply do not hold water. </p>
<p>There are numerous terrestrial examples where resources are profitably exploited in the absence of fee-simple ownership. Governments routinely licence companies to engage in timber extraction, mining, offshore oil exploration and other activities, receiving royalties payments on production. </p>
<p>In the United States, revenues from such royalties totalled some <a href="http://www.onrr.gov/">US$13.5 billion dollars</a> in 2014 from federally owned or managed lands alone. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, some proponents of mining in outer space argue for <a href="http://www.elevenjournals.com/tijdschrift/iisl/1998/1%20Managing%20Space%20Resources%20and%20Revitalizing%20Space%20Treaties/IISL_1998_041_001_005">serious modification or an end to the Outer Space Treaty</a> and claim, against the evidence, that without fee-simple ownership, there is no incentive for commercial exploitation.</p>
<p>The Unites States’ <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2262">Space Act of 2015</a> was just one volley – and a deliberately <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-should-work-together-in-the-race-to-mine-the-solar-system-55026">vague one</a> at that – in this <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-owns-space-us-asteroid-mining-act-is-dangerous-and-potentially-illegal-51073">ongoing international debate</a>. </p>
<h2>A balanced approach?</h2>
<p>The riches exist, but how will humanity benefit from mining in outer space, or for that matter, other <a href="http://eu.wiley.com/legacy/wileychi/egec/vogler.html">global commons</a> such as the deep sea floor? </p>
<p>Behind the lofty rhetoric of benefits to humanity, there is a dark shadow of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaganomics">voodoo economics</a>, the shambling, walking dead figure of trickle down economics– and the possibility of a world where a few trillionaires enjoy the view from space while others barely eke a living on its surface. </p>
<p>Yet we do suggest that commercial interests and profit seeking can be a healthy part of the exploration of outer space. Yet outer space is not the Wild West frontier of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Jackson_Turner">Frederick Jackson Turner</a>, nor do we live in the Gold Rush days of Jack London’s tale of <a href="http://www.jacklondons.net/goldcanyon.html">greed and death</a>. </p>
<p>In the common heritage of space, with multiple state and private actors engaging in exploration and potentially exploitation, international cooperation and oversight will benefit all. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118847/original/image-20160415-11432-fkbmpo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118847/original/image-20160415-11432-fkbmpo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118847/original/image-20160415-11432-fkbmpo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118847/original/image-20160415-11432-fkbmpo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118847/original/image-20160415-11432-fkbmpo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118847/original/image-20160415-11432-fkbmpo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118847/original/image-20160415-11432-fkbmpo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118847/original/image-20160415-11432-fkbmpo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The next mining boom could happen in space.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The Alaskan model</h2>
<p>There is a balanced, pragmatic approach that will promote commercial and profit driven activities, while also producing tangible benefits to all of humanity. </p>
<p>Importantly, this pragmatic approach has a well established precedent that has existed for nearly 40 years. And this comes not from a social democracy or left-wing ideology, but was the brainchild of a libertarian, Republican governor of Alaska, <a href="http://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_alaska/col2-content/main-content-list/title_hammond_jay.default.html">Jay Hammond</a>. </p>
<p>That model is the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (<a href="http://www.apfc.org/home/Content/home/index.cfm">APFC</a>) created in 1976, and its unique “citizen’s dividend”. The APF is a resource wealth fund, which derives its revenue primarily from leases on oil fields. </p>
<p>In 1977, Hammond <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jonathan_Anderson5/publication/228266308_The_Alaska_Permanent_Fund_Politics_and_Trust/links/02e7e52de906c64cbd000000.pdf">suggested</a> that “rather than permitting government to spend all public monies earned through the exploitation of the public’s resources for what government thinks best, let’s grant shares to Alaskans.” </p>
<p>The first dividend payment was made in 1982, and in 2015 that payment amounted to US$2,072. </p>
<p>Linking a citizen’s dividend to a sovereign wealth fund was unique, but the idea of a citizen’s dividend has a long and venerable tradition. One of the earliest advocates was no less than the political theorist and American Revolutionary, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine">Thomas Paine</a>. </p>
<h2>International body</h2>
<p>How would this work for outer space? </p>
<p><a href="http://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1238&context=jil">We need</a> an international body similar to the <a href="https://www.isa.org.jm/">International Seabed Authority</a>, which was established by the <a href="http://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_overview_convention.htm">United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea</a>, or the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Telecommunication_Union">International Telecommunications Union</a>, which allocates satellite orbits.</p>
<p>This would provide the stable business and investment environment that entrepreneurs seek by ensuring international law and obligations are met. This body could license outer space resources and levy a royalty on production, which is part of standard business practice between petroleum and other mining companies and governments here on Earth. </p>
<p>In turn, these revenues, or a significant portion thereof, would be deposited in a Space Resource Fund, possibly under the aegis of the World Bank. And every single citizen on Earth, say aged 18 or above, would receive a dividend on a yearly basis as their rightful share as owners of the common province of humankind. </p>
<p>Crucially, we are not suggesting redistribution, which has been an obstacle to the International Seabed Authority and the <a href="http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1954/1">Moon Treaty</a> in the past, but a fair share dividend of wealth that truly belongs to everyone. </p>
<p>Our model doesn’t provide a handout, or a welfare cheque, or charity from a trillionaire philanthopist; it pays every owner in a global commons a share of what is rightfully theirs. </p>
<p>Even tiny dividends by the standards of the world’s wealthy nations would make a difference for some developing world farmers. If there truly are trillions of dollars out there, then this might be something fundamentally world changing. </p>
<p>We accept that Larry Page and Sir Richard Branson – founding investors and advisors in Planetary Resources – and its founders Eric Anderson and Peter Diamandis, truly want humanity to benefit from outer space, and that they truly believe in corporate social responsibility and a sustainable future. We would encourage them to embrace the idea that the sky really does belong to all of us, as the common <a href="http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/introouterspacetreaty.html">“province of all mankind”</a>.</p>
<p>By paying rent for the right to exploit resources in space and royalties on production, the same way oil companies pay to exploit oil in the Gulf of Mexico, they’ll be engaging in business as usual. </p>
<p>They will have bought the right to make a potentially enormous profit and prove they really are responsible global citizens. And they’d get a citizen’s dividend cheque too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57740/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Morgan Saletta is a marketing and academic consultant for the Melbourne University Space Program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Orrman-Rossiter is a Councillor of The Royal Society of Victoria.</span></em></p>Space mining could generate a massive resources boom. Here’s a way to make sure the benefits of that boom reach everyone on the planet.Morgan Saletta, PhD, History and Philosophy of Science, The University of MelbourneKevin Orrman-Rossiter, Graduate Student, History & Philosophy of Science, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/550262016-02-23T05:42:38Z2016-02-23T05:42:38ZWe should work together in the race to mine the solar system<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/112276/original/image-20160222-23457-1f0st9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How would people react to mining on the moon?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/images/250524main_GPN-2001-000009_full.jpg">NASA, GPN-2001-000009 </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With interest in the prospect of mining the moon and asteroids gaining pace, it’s time to take a hard look at what’s really at stake. </p>
<p>From the time of the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, space has been regarded as the common heritage of humanity. This is reflected in the landmark United Nations Outer Space Treaty (<a href="http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/outerspacetreaty.html">OST</a>) of 1967. Among other things, it affirms that all have a right to access space for peaceful and scientific purposes, and prohibits the sovereign appropriation of outer space. </p>
<p>The treaty was designed to provide principles to govern space in the geopolitical environment of the Cold War, when the main space actors were nations, not private corporations. Ironically, their motivation for developing space technology at the time was as much for military as for peaceful purposes.</p>
<p>Since those days, the nature of space activities has undergone a significant shift. Many space technologies initially derived from military programs are now at the heart of very substantial space businesses. Commercial interests are now a significant element in the future of space exploration and use. </p>
<p>And where there are commercial interests at stake, the financial “bottom line” becomes all-important. An increasing number of private entities believe there are <a href="http://bigthink.com/think-tank/the-first-trillionaires-will-make-their-fortunes-in-space">considerable profits</a> to be made in the rare metals and other valuable resources lying untouched in the moon and near-Earth asteroids. </p>
<h2>A bold act, but is it legal?</h2>
<p>The international treaties are based on a cooperative approach to the exploitation of space resources. Despite this, the major space-faring nations have thus far steered away from establishing an international management regime to coordinate any mining activities. </p>
<p>Now, as the technology that might enable such activities to eventually become a reality develops, private enterprise is pushing governments to pass national laws to promote it. In November 2015, US President <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/asteroid-mining-made-legal-after-barack-obama-gives-us-citizens-the-right-to-own-parts-of-celestial-a6750046.html">Barack Obama signed</a> the Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (<a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2262/text">CSLCA</a>) into law. This gives US companies the right to own – and sell – resources mined in space.</p>
<p>Some commentators argue that the Act is a <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-owns-space-us-asteroid-mining-act-is-dangerous-and-potentially-illegal-51073">flagrant violation</a> of the letter and spirit of the OST.</p>
<p>The International Institute of Space Law is more circumspect. It says that, while the legal position is not entirely clear, the US law is <a href="http://www.iislweb.org/docs/SpaceResourceMining.pdf">not necessarily incompatible</a> with international principles.</p>
<p>Such divergent opinions demonstrate that further clarity is necessary to avoid future conflicts. </p>
<h2>Environmental impacts of off-world mining</h2>
<p>While the focus is on the legalities, as well as who bears the costs of future space exploration and who has the right to profit from it, one critical area is being overlooked.</p>
<p>Asteroids might be “out of sight, out of mind” for the most part, but lunar mining is likely to arouse strong and widespread reactions. The moon is one of the most significant cultural influences that unites people across all times and places in human history.</p>
<p>Would the public support commercial space mining if excavation scars were visible through Earth-based telescopes? Such considerations might be a factor in the design and location of mining operations.</p>
<p>Terrestrial mining companies are generally required to comply with domestic legislation that protects heritage, community values and the environment. Apart from some general statements in the treaties, as yet no similar system is in place for space. </p>
<p>Space mining companies have barely considered that they might have to deal with the same kind of community opposition as mines on Earth, only this time at a global scale.</p>
<h2>Diggers in space</h2>
<p>Given that the US has enacted a law that purports to establish the right to mine and sell off-world resources, other nations may follow. Indeed, Luxembourg has recently announced it will also establish a legal framework to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2015/s4400279.htm">facilitate space mining</a>.</p>
<p>In moving forward, we need to carefully consider the potential for a “<a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/162/3859/1243.full">tragedy of the commons</a>” situation in relation to space resources, just as we are with the problem of increasing space debris. What this means is that each entity, acting in its own self-interest, risks destroying a resource for everyone.</p>
<p>What about Australia?</p>
<p>Australia has a huge amount of expertise in mining technology and operations, especially in remote locations. The Pilbara region of Western Australia, the heartland of the mining boom, resembles Mars enough to be called a <a href="https://www.aca.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/publications/West,%20Clarke,%20Thomas,%20Walter%20and%20Pain%20%202010%20_0.pdf">Mars analogue landscape</a>.</p>
<p>Australians are also active in developing space mining industries, as part of companies such as <a href="https://deepspaceindustries.com/">Deep Space Industries</a>. Recent conferences in Sydney focusing on <a href="http://www.engineering.unsw.edu.au/all-events/2015-off-earth-mining-forum">off-Earth mining</a> attracted much interest. </p>
<p>It is clear that Australian expertise is relevant in the development of space-related capability. The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science is undertaking a <a href="http://www.industry.gov.au/industry/IndustrySectors/space/Pages/Review-of-the-Space-Activities-Act-1998.aspx#header">review of our space laws</a> to assess what is the most appropriate regulatory framework to promote such innovation into commercial benefit for the country.</p>
<h2>The future of access to the solar system</h2>
<p>What’s really at stake is the future of universal human access to space and the very way we view space. </p>
<p>A rash move at this point could tip the balance and erode the principle of the common heritage of humanity. We must avoid further entrenching the divisions between the space haves and have-nots. </p>
<p>While there may be considerable benefits to future generations should we find a way to safely and sustainably exploit space resources, there are also considerable risks. These need a very careful calibration.</p>
<p>Cool heads are required and the key will be international cooperation on a broad scale. This issue is too important and too complex to be undertaken by a small number of private enterprises. A clear international regime must be established to safeguard the interests of every stakeholder.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55026/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alice Gorman is a member of the Executive Council of the Space Industry Association of Australia. She is also a heritage consultant who has worked for many years in the mining sector.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Freeland has been engaged as an expert advisor to the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science to assist it in its current review of the Australian Space Activities Act (1998)</span></em></p>No one nation should be allowed to go it alone and develop a mining industry in space. It needs an international effort and Australia, with a long history in mining, can play its part.Alice Gorman, Senior Lecturer in archaeology and space studies, Flinders UniversitySteven Freeland, Professor of International Law, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/457022015-08-09T20:30:44Z2015-08-09T20:30:44ZAntarctica may hold the key to regulating mining in space<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91118/original/image-20150807-4409-4e63ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=149%2C47%2C3520%2C2281&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Antarctica is managed by the Antarctic Treaty System, which regulates what states and private companies can do.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">The National Guard</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Our current era may go down in history as the century of space exploration and off-Earth resource exploitation. But there are still considerable policy hurdles to overcome in terms of how we regulate such activities. </p>
<p>As we turn our eyes to the skies, we should also look south to Antarctica to gain some insight into governance matters in outer space.</p>
<p>This year has already seen significant challenges to existing international space law. Not least, the US Congress passed the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1508">Space Resource Exploration and Utilization Act of 2015</a>. </p>
<p>This bill radically revises elements of the original Outer Space Treaty (<a href="http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/introouterspacetreaty.html">OST</a>) from 1967, under which any resources returned to Earth from space were considered the property of all humankind, thus could not be owned or sold. </p>
<p>The bill alters this so that private companies and states can maintain property rights over any resources brought down to Earth. It opens up outer space to venture capital and ensures that US private companies can obtain a title over any asteroid resources obtained in outer space. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/20/outer-space-final-frontier-capitalism-mine-moon">Outer space is a final frontier for capitalism</a>, and it’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/space-mining-is-closer-than-you-think-and-the-prospects-are-great-45707">not as far off</a> as you might think. </p>
<p>It is also perhaps the final frontier for international regimes of governance of the global commons. This is a significant matter because the US bill might be a precedent for other countries to sign into law similarly self-interested bills rather than continue the legacy of international cooperation in space.</p>
<h2>Looking south a way forward?</h2>
<p>Outer space and Antarctica have some uncanny similarities. Both spaces are contested political frontiers from which we can take the measure of our planet. </p>
<p>Antarctica is almost extraterrestrial in its adversity to harbour human life. Many areas of the Antarctic, like the <a href="http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/big-ideas/dry-valleys/">Dry Valleys</a> or <a href="http://www.livescience.com/38652-what-is-lake-vostok.html">submerged lakes</a> under the ice cap serve as proxies for outer space exploration and search for alien microbial life. </p>
<p>International law identifies Antarctica and outer space as two of four global commons (the others being the high seas and the atmosphere). Both have been defined within international regimes as spaces outside the territory of nation states and beyond the normative inhabitable zones of the human species. In both instances the current governance regime were outcomes of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) (1957-1958). </p>
<p>It was on the basis of the experience gained during the IGY that three significant treaties emerged within a decade: the 1958 <a href="http://legal.un.org/avl/ha/gclos/gclos.html">United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea</a>; the 1959 Antarctic Treaty (later <a href="http://www.ats.aq/e/ats.htm">Antarctic Treaty System</a>); and 1967 <a href="http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/introouterspacetreaty.html">Outer Space Treaty</a>. Each of these laid down the principles of the legal regimes for exploration and governance of these extraterritorial spaces. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91113/original/image-20150807-9948-1iatjgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91113/original/image-20150807-9948-1iatjgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91113/original/image-20150807-9948-1iatjgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91113/original/image-20150807-9948-1iatjgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91113/original/image-20150807-9948-1iatjgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91113/original/image-20150807-9948-1iatjgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91113/original/image-20150807-9948-1iatjgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91113/original/image-20150807-9948-1iatjgj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Antarctica is currently governed by an international treaty that could inform how we manage various national and private scientific and commercial interests in space.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">brookpeterson/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Cold precedent</h2>
<p>Over the past fifty years, the Antarctic region has been governed through the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS). The ATS has arguably provided important lessons pertaining the governance of trans-boundary systems beyond sovereign jurisdictions. It has successfully calmed down political tensions over sovereignty claims. </p>
<p>It has also helped protect Antarctic ecosystems from mineral exploitation through the <a href="http://www.ats.aq/e/ep.htm">Environmental Protocol</a> to the ATS, a situation that may be revisited in 2048. It also has safeguarded the polar continent as a zone of peace and scientific collaboration. </p>
<p>But, inevitably, both these treaties are historically contingent. The Environmental Protocol for instance may be revised in 2048. It is not unthinkable that in the near future, with intensified national interest in mineral and biological resources, Antarctica could potentially become another commodity frontier. </p>
<p>For example, today there are a few hundred research organisations and companies from at least 27 states undertaking biological prospecting in the Antarctic. Yet it is unclear – and contested – who owns the microbial diversity that exists outside of national territories. </p>
<p>This points to the kinds of issues that may arise as mineral prospecting operations begin on asteroids, the Moon or other celestial bodies within the next few decades.</p>
<p>It may be difficult to think the OST will effectively calm down political anxiety over outer space resource exploitation. This is because the potential economic benefits of space exploration are likely to become a main driver. </p>
<h2>Common good</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91107/original/image-20150807-9941-1au4ayq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=71%2C118%2C995%2C566&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91107/original/image-20150807-9941-1au4ayq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=71%2C118%2C995%2C566&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91107/original/image-20150807-9941-1au4ayq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91107/original/image-20150807-9941-1au4ayq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91107/original/image-20150807-9941-1au4ayq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91107/original/image-20150807-9941-1au4ayq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91107/original/image-20150807-9941-1au4ayq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91107/original/image-20150807-9941-1au4ayq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Asteroids like Ida might contain precious resources. But who owns them?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the other hand, if the aim is to safeguard and protect extraterrestrial space, to maintain it as one of the four commons for humankind under international law and to defuse political tensions, Antarctica may well continue to provide a model for international collaboration in space.</p>
<p>Important questions remain unresolved: is the principle of <a href="http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100408305#">res communis</a> – through which space is understood to belong to all humankind – successfully ensuring that the exploration of outer space is given a fair go?</p>
<p>The OST states clearly that the exploration and use of outer space must be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development.</p>
<p>Are there intangible benefits and intrinsic values of space exploration that we must bring to the fore?</p>
<p>Or, on the contrary, is the OST effectively limiting expansion and innovation in outer space exploration by being vague on property rights, the “use” of outer space, and hindering capital expansion beyond Earth? In this case Antarctica may not be the best model, as it bans mining activities altogether.</p>
<p>These are more than economic and legal predicaments. They represent a philosophical dilemma of how we project ourselves as species in to the future and into the solar system. </p>
<p>We need an open and far-reaching international and inter disciplinary dialogue on our imminent endeavours in outer space. In my opinion a normative framework is still needed that can oversee space mineral resources exploration and exploitation. For the time being, Antarctica may still provide a model to keep in consideration.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45702/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Juan Francisco Salazar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If we’re going to mine asteroids, then we need an international treaty to prevent it becoming a wild west. Thankfully we can look to Antarctica to see how such a treaty might work.Juan Francisco Salazar, Associate Professor, School of Humanities and Communication Arts , Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/457072015-08-06T20:09:31Z2015-08-06T20:09:31ZSpace mining is closer than you think, and the prospects are great<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90976/original/image-20150806-19653-1qd86xd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=264%2C71%2C1402%2C836&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many of the bodies in our solar system's contain precious resources that could be used here or in space.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In this week’s Q&A on the ABC, the American cosmologist <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-04/neil-degrasse-tyson-ten-10-key-moments-from-qanda/6671422">Neil deGrasse Tyson</a> gushed about the prospects of mining in space, and the benefits that might afford humanity.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>How about mining an asteroid for natural resources? […] There are more natural resources on asteroids than have ever been mined in the history of the Earth. So in 100 years […] all wars over limited resources are over because we have access to the unlimited resources of our back yard and that new back yard is our solar system.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Is this really plausible? What can we mine in space? And will it really deliver world peace, or just another realm for competition and conflict? Perhaps a look at the immediate past and near future may help us answer some of these questions.</p>
<h2>Not science-fiction</h2>
<p>In the two years since I first wrote about <a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-colonise-space-its-time-to-start-off-earth-mining-11739">off-earth mining</a>, a number of things have changed, and at least one relates to “world peace”.</p>
<p>One asteroid mining company, <a href="http://www.planetaryresources.com/">Planetary Resources</a>, <a href="http://www.planetaryresources.com/2015/07/planetary-resources-first-spacecraft-deployed/">launched</a> its first spacecraft from the International Space Station. This was the company’s second attempt after an earlier one was <a href="http://www.space.com/27596-planetary-resources-spacecraft-antares-explosion.html">incinerated</a> in the failed Antares launch. </p>
<p>Another asteroid miner, Deep Space Industries (<a href="http://deepspaceindustries.com/">DSI</a>), <a href="http://deepspaceindustries.com/advanced-space-resource-utilization-technology-projects-supported-by-new-nasa-awards-to-deep-space-industries/">won</a> two NASA grants. One was to investigate creating propellant from asteroid material, and the other to create an asteroid <a href="http://www.britannica.com/science/regolith">regolith</a> simulant, so equipment can be tested on Earth. That followed the <a href="http://www.space.com/25626-bitcoins-satellites-deep-space-industries.html">award</a> to DSI of a contract to help develop BitSat, which transmits Bitcoin transactions.</p>
<p>We, at the <a href="http://www.acser.unsw.edu.au/">Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research</a> at UNSW, along with NASA’s <a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/">Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a>, also <a href="https://www.engineering.unsw.edu.au/mining-engineering/news/off-earth-mining-grant-for-unsw-researchers-and-nasa">won</a> funding to investigate mining water to support NASA’s planned Mars colony.</p>
<p>In the US, the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/5063">ASTEROIDS Act</a> (yes that’s an acronym) was thankfully renamed the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1508">Space Resource Exploration and Utilization Act</a> before it passed Congress. It tries to deal with the gaps in the <a href="http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/introouterspacetreaty.html">Outer Space Treaty</a> relating to <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-owns-space-33222">ownership</a> of space resources. It <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr1508/text">states</a> that “any asteroid resources obtained in outer space are the property of the entity that obtained such resources, which shall be entitled to all property rights thereto, consistent with applicable provisions of Federal law.” </p>
<p>A UNSW study has shown, for a particular iron-rich asteroid, given the existence of a market and other assumptions, the return on investment is 85 years if the ore is returned to Earth, but five years if used in space. </p>
<h2>Not so costly</h2>
<p>Despite all this activity, sceptics remain unconvinced about the prospects for space mining for reasons such as expense and time. </p>
<p>Mining in space will certainly be expensive. The total <a href="https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/profile.cfm?InFlight=1&MCode=MarsSciLab&Display=ReadMore">budget</a> of the project to send Curiosity to Mars and operate it for 14 years was US$2.5 billion. </p>
<p>But mining on Earth is also expensive. In <a href="http://www.riotinto.com/documents/RT_Annual_report_2014.pdf">2014</a>, Rio Tinto reduced its exploration budget from US$948 million in 2013 to US$747 million. A single <a href="http://arizonageology.blogspot.com.tr/2008/08/resolution-copper-feasibility-studies.html?m=1">study</a> can cost over US$650 million. </p>
<p>The corresponding <a href="http://www.bhpbilliton.com/%7E/media/bhp/documents/investors/reports/2014/bhpbillitonannualreport2014_interactive.pdf?la=en">figures</a> for BHP Billiton are US$1,047 million in 2013 down to US$716 million. That’s the sort of money these companies are already spending, trying to find new terrestrial deposits. So, the absolute scale of an investment in space mining is not beyond existing mining companies. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90978/original/image-20150806-19641-ams98p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90978/original/image-20150806-19641-ams98p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90978/original/image-20150806-19641-ams98p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90978/original/image-20150806-19641-ams98p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90978/original/image-20150806-19641-ams98p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90978/original/image-20150806-19641-ams98p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90978/original/image-20150806-19641-ams98p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90978/original/image-20150806-19641-ams98p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Space mining is a staple of science fiction, but it’s rapidly becoming a reality.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ryan Somma</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Things are similar in terms of time frames. Mining operations last for decades. So neither the costs nor the time-frames are prohibitive. As we see, the asteroid mining companies are already getting into space. It’s happening, and it’s being funded.</p>
<p>So, where are the immediate problems? For one thing, the study that told us to use the iron ore in space rather than return it to Earth assumed a market in space. </p>
<p>For high-value commodities, like rare earth minerals or platinum group metals, there may be a case for return to Earth, but certainly, the “common” resources that could be mined in space are best used there. </p>
<p>The common argument is that it costs about US$20,000 per kilogram to launch to deep space from Earth, so if you can produce that kilogram in space for less than $20,000, you’re ahead. </p>
<p>In fact, SpaceX publishes its launch costs on its <a href="http://www.spacex.com/about/capabilities">website</a>. Currently, for its Falcon 9, that figure is about US$12,600. But a market does not exist at present, and may need an artificial demand to kick it off (e.g. someone like NASA could contract for a delivery of water on-orbit). </p>
<p>This dilemma was recently debated at <a href="https://twitter.com/ACSERUNSW/status/624341247768006657">SpaceUp</a> Australia. Without that kick-start, early demand for water may come from space tourism, but the most likely place for this type of economy to kick off is probably <a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/space-robots/nasa-tests-new-robotic-refueling-hardware/?utm_source=roboticsnews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=080415">satellite refuelling</a>. Water can be split into hydrogen and oxygen, which can be used to fuel satellites.</p>
<h2>World peace or wild west?</h2>
<p>In terms of world peace, there are a number of problems with the US Space Act (variously discussed <a href="http://www.newyorklawjournal.com/id=1202733305720/Mining-Outer-Space-Who-Owns-the-Asteroids?slreturn=20150705012812">here</a>, <a href="http://www.mining.com/us-congress-passes-bill-on-space-mining/">here</a>, <a href="http://exopolitics.org/tag/space-resource-exploration-and-utilization-act/">here</a>, and <a href="http://clapway.com/2015/05/22/space-mining-bill-passed-by-house-of-representatives123/">here</a>), including that the law is not necessarily consistent with existing treaties, is likely to be ignored by other countries, and is unenforceable. </p>
<p>A bus could drive through the existing treaties and not touch the sides, so there is a lack of uncertainty about what can and can’t be done, or enforced. My own view on this is that it will be the wild west out there until the slow processes of the law finally catch up with reality off the ground. </p>
<p>As far as world peace goes, I think things in space will get worse before they get better (space piracy, anyone?). But once order is established, there is every possibility that deGrasse Tyson is right, perhaps in less than 100 years.</p>
<p>The world leaders on all of these contentious topics, as well as representatives from the off-earth mining companies will be meeting to debate these issues at the second <a href="http://www.acser.unsw.edu.au/oemf2015/">Off-Earth Mining Forum</a>, to be held in Sydney in November. </p>
<p>To maximise interaction between space experts and mining experts, the event has been co-located with the third <a href="http://www.futuremining2015.ausimm.com.au/">Future Mining Conference</a>. Members of the public are welcome to attend and get a sense of whether deGrasse Tyson might be right.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45707/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Dempster has received funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian Space Research program to investigate space and satellite navigation topics.</span></em></p>Mining in space is no longer science fiction. But could it end wars over resources, as Neil deGrasse Tyson has suggested?Andrew Dempster, Director, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research; Professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/342852014-11-28T17:08:42Z2014-11-28T17:08:42ZWhy we should mine the moon<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65817/original/image-20141128-9776-1bxwzxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=106%2C65%2C841%2C657&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Gold rush?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jovom/9368466636/in/photolist-fgRQJQ-eTsFie-bEvHPL-7suZ87-n6z8r4-dp55HU-iW215d-e7CfhP-hgr3mv-9YhZtK-6K3Zx-iVKRUe-arYhiA-HHAoo-pjnZ6S-eSGc6W-6HZqeh-8DdGj6-5SdTYE-cxRFYo-21JeTd-4YMXB1-dkFchi-9j3eVQ-eVkeQC-C6XBc-fpmydz-oKQo5z-dj8CgB-bTAUkk-9g1JXd-ff67mV-dQe4Kt-oPcpX9-c1B8U7-8QJFXZ-meftVD-dQ8tgj-hBAgL-dR8cCR-hX1wQz-dzdTY6-dThmkm-7gs9dt-eWBFzD-6eS1im-dRj3tq-5dWefW-bML1Er-fxCZ5s">jovom</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>To date, all human economic activity has depended on the material and energy resources of a single planet; understandably, perhaps. It is conceivable though that future advances in space exploration could change this by opening our closed planetary economy to essentially unlimited external resources of energy and raw materials. </p>
<p>Look up at the Moon this evening, and you might be gazing at a solution. The Earth’s closest celestial neighbour seems likely to play a major role and already <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/9/5395684/nasa-begins-hunt-for-private-companies-to-mine-the-moon-catalyst">a number of private companies</a> have been created to explore the possibilities.</p>
<p>It is important to stress that even now, 40 years after the Apollo missions, we still don’t have a complete picture of the Moon’s economic potential, and obtaining one will require a more rigorous programme of lunar exploration than has been undertaken to-date. In part, this is why proposed future lunar exploration missions (such as the recently announced <a href="https://theconversation.com/british-led-moon-mission-to-kickstart-new-generation-of-lunar-exploration-34103">Lunar Mission One</a>) are so important. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, as a result of work over the past four decades, we do now know enough to make a first-order assessment of lunar resource potential. In doing so it is useful to distinguish between three possible future applications of such resources.</p>
<h2>Digging deep</h2>
<ol>
<li><p>We have the option of using lunar materials to facilitate continued exploration, and future economic development, of the Moon itself. The concept is usually referred to as In Situ Resource Utilisation, or ISRU.</p></li>
<li><p>We could make use of lunar resources to facilitate scientific and economic activity in the vicinity of both Earth and Moon (<a href="http://www.airspacemag.com/ist/?next=/daily-planet/a-rationale-for-cislunar-space-168379297/">so-called cis-lunar space</a>) as well as future exploration deeper into the Solar System</p></li>
<li><p>We can consider the importation of lunar resources to the Earth’s surface where they would contribute directly to the global economy.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Recent work – <a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/1410.6865">which I have summarised here</a> – has shown that the Moon does possess materials suitable for ISRU. Most important in this respect is evidence for deposits of water ice and other volatiles trapped in cold (less than 100 Kelvin or minus 173 degrees Celsius) and permanently shadowed craters at the lunar poles. In addition to being required for human life support, water is also a ready source of oxygen (required for both life support and rocket fuel oxidiser) and hydrogen (a valuable rocket fuel). </p>
<p>In addition to possible ice deposits, it has been known since the early studies of the Apollo samples that the lunar soil contains volatiles, substances derived ultimately from the solar wind (e.g. hydrogen, helium, carbon, nitrogen, and at high latitudes, hydroxide and perhaps water), and these may also be exploitable for ISRU activities.</p>
<p>Although ISRU will undoubtedly benefit future scientific exploration, it is true that such activities will only make wider economic sense if further lunar exploration and development is able to yield net benefits to the global economy. It is here that the second of those three potential applications of lunar resources comes into play. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65824/original/image-20141128-20585-sdwitg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65824/original/image-20141128-20585-sdwitg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65824/original/image-20141128-20585-sdwitg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65824/original/image-20141128-20585-sdwitg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65824/original/image-20141128-20585-sdwitg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65824/original/image-20141128-20585-sdwitg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65824/original/image-20141128-20585-sdwitg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65824/original/image-20141128-20585-sdwitg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sci-fi realities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/espd/1274207078/in/photolist-2WADny-ugz5p-cuGkwY-8skRJF-P8LRx-9Wcnxx-hiHrhB-aeCUeA-aY9zAM-5pwBJU-e1TRU-dz5SYU-dxcY2R-bomkXQ-adwgB9-98L6wC-bBfpM8-3KF2XM-ioS8t5-nyPxPY-2vVkpu-jCusBs-diN9z2-p8kzyW-oSTjQV-9pCka7-8VdEYT-b37SjX-nuJZVA-bW41P7-63uYuU-czeNbh-QzE9j-ogD5Z5-ciabm1-fWhZfY-nQxCkw-o34GtH-czcjdC-czcj8A-adTgWK-oSTjp4-aefqZX-9YqhxY-pugWyV-4nvSnJ-oRRw1J-9TKuyt-9TNiVC-8kf3MF">Mark Bult</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Fuel’s gold</h2>
<p>Our global civilisation is already <a href="http://satellites.spacesim.org/english/function/index.html">highly dependent on Earth-orbiting satellites</a> for communications, navigation, weather forecasting and resource management, and this reliance is likely to increase. The high costs of these activities are largely dictated by high launch costs, and by the fact that failed satellites cannot currently be repaired or replenished in orbit. The availability of resources obtained from the weaker gravity conditions of the Moon would help mitigate these obstacles to further economic development in Earth orbit. Near-term lunar exports to a cis-lunar infrastructure could include the supply of hydrogen and oxygen as rocket fuel/oxidiser. </p>
<p>In addition, <a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/1410.6865">lunar surface rocks and soils are rich</a> in potentially useful but heavy (and thus expensive to launch from Earth) raw materials such as magnesium, aluminium, silicon, iron and titanium. Therefore, if a lunar industrial infrastructure is gradually built up, the Moon may be able to provide more sophisticated products to Earth-orbiting facilities. Examples might include titanium and aluminium alloys for structural components, and silicon-based photovoltaic cells for solar power. The key business case for sourcing these materials on the Moon is simple. It takes about 20 times less energy to launch a given mass from the surface of the Moon into Earth orbit compared to launching it from the Earth’s surface to Earth orbit.</p>
<h2>Down to earth</h2>
<p>This all seems pretty encouraging for any company or country considering drilling on the Moon, but opportunities for lunar resources to make a more direct contribution to the world economy by being imported to the Earth’s surface are limited. This is because the Earth already contains the same basic mix of chemical elements as does the Moon, many of them in higher localised concentrations (i.e. ores), and we have a well-developed infrastructure for extracting and refining terrestrial raw materials. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65825/original/image-20141128-20588-11pryhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65825/original/image-20141128-20588-11pryhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65825/original/image-20141128-20588-11pryhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65825/original/image-20141128-20588-11pryhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65825/original/image-20141128-20588-11pryhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65825/original/image-20141128-20588-11pryhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65825/original/image-20141128-20588-11pryhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/65825/original/image-20141128-20588-11pryhk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Helium 3’s potential may be over-inflated.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/warrenski/5503442014/in/photolist-9ojzzh-9ojA7m-ij634D-HbwPs-Hbx77-4U7gJ5-az8mcy-mf4oUx-dnHwHv-bDhtEK-bqnz9o-azVqWh-aKaJEM-aK9FwX-4wPx7-dvKZ92-5yySsg-CQg2q-mf6fY7-mf5aNZ-nuH8qZ-8Tnq5T-c4e1du-c4e1sj-6Vgq8P-eyDnie-DT9P-aKaLZp-bDhvk8-2C7Qc9-aKaLzv-6N4QxC-763Gfg-7i8sd8-dF1sRU-mf4qCH-mf4of6-mf6gWj-mf5bV8-mf5c8c-661A9q-nXsM1J-2C3qjV-p1rQ4y-8ZtMEG-2Sewp-mf6hs9-mf6gSG-8ZqJgZ-8ZtM1L">warrenski</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The light isotope of helium (helium-3), which is implanted into lunar soils by the solar wind is often cited as an exception because it is perceived by some to be a <a href="http://thediplomat.com/2014/06/moon-power-chinas-pursuit-of-lunar-helium-3/">potential fuel for future nuclear fusion reactors on Earth</a>. However, sustainable nuclear fusion using helium-3 has yet to be shown to be practical, and even if it is, the concentration of helium-3 in lunar soils is so low (about ten parts-per-billion by mass) that strip mining and processing hundreds of square kilometres of the lunar surface would be required each year in order to make a significant contribution to Earth’s future energy needs.</p>
<p>Other possible lunar materials which might conceivably be economically imported to the Earth include platinum group elements (currently valued at between $20,000 and $50,000 per kilo) extracted from iron meteorites that may have survived impact with the lunar surface, and materials (for example, economically valuable rare-earth elements which are known to be concentrated in some regions of the Moon) for which the environmental costs of terrestrial mining may one day make lunar sources more attractive.</p>
<h2>Booster stages</h2>
<p>When we pull together the evidence, it remains difficult to identify any single lunar resource that will be sufficiently valuable to drive a mining industry on its own. There is no simple solution. However, the Moon does possess abundant raw materials that are of potential economic interest. </p>
<p>We need to think of a hierarchy of future applications. This begins with the use of lunar materials to facilitate human activities on the Moon itself. We can then progress to the use of lunar resources to underpin a future industrial capability within the Earth-Moon system. In this way, gradually increasing access to lunar resources may help “bootstrap” a self-sustaining space-based economy from which the global economy will ultimately benefit.</p>
<p><em>This article is based on an invited review paper on lunar resources that will be published by the journal _Progress in Physical Geography</em> in the New Year. A preprint of that paper, which contains references to the primary literature on which this essay is based, <a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/1410.6865">can be found here</a>_</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/34285/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Crawford receives funding for lunar science and exploration (although not related to lunar resources specifically) from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and The Leverhulme Trust. He is a scientific advisor to the Lunar Mission One project which aims to land a robotic probe on the south pole of the Moon in 2024. </span></em></p>To date, all human economic activity has depended on the material and energy resources of a single planet; understandably, perhaps. It is conceivable though that future advances in space exploration could…Ian Crawford, Professor of Planetary Science and Astrobiology, Birkbeck, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/332222014-10-24T09:49:42Z2014-10-24T09:49:42ZWho owns space?<p>The golden age of planetary exploration had voyagers navigating new sea routes to uncharted territory. These territories were then claimed in the name of the monarchs who had financed the expeditions. All too frequently, this led to conflict between rivals, especially over lucrative trade routes, and piracy was either an occupational hazard or a perk of the job, depending on your point of view.</p>
<p>The exploration of space can be compared with this early exploration of the Earth. There is now growing concern to ensure that the history of space exploration does not follow that of its terrestrial forerunner, with rivalry between space-faring nations parallelling the rivalry between the great sea powers of the 16th and 17th centuries.</p>
<p>The question of who owns space, whether it is everybody or nobody, is one that is increasingly coming to the fore. This is happening as more nations and even some private corporations are becoming capable of space exploration. It is clear that regulation of the space environment is an immediate concern.</p>
<p>A Dutch not-for-profit organisation, Mars One, has begun selecting crew with the hope of setting up a <a href="http://www.mars-one.com/mission/roadmap">human colony by 2025</a>. Elon Musk, a pioneer in the private space industry, founded SpaceX with the aim of one day <a href="http://aeon.co/magazine/technology/the-elon-musk-interview-on-mars/">going to Mars</a>. Planetary Resources, a corporation setup by some of the leading technologists, states that its <a href="http://www.planetaryresources.com/mission/">mission</a> is “to apply commercial, innovative techniques to explore space,” starting with asteroids.</p>
<h2>Drawing boundaries in space</h2>
<p>Currently exploration of space is controlled by the <a href="http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SpaceLaw/outerspt.html">UN Outer Space Treaty of 1967</a>. But the treaty is inadequate for our technological era. When the treaty was drafted, exploitation of space and its resources was very much still a matter of science fiction.</p>
<p>In 1967 both the US and the Soviet Union were attempting to recover from spaceflight disasters. In January, three NASA astronauts died when their Apollo 1 command capsule caught fire during prelaunch testing. In April, the first Soyuz mission ended in disaster when the parachute on the descent module failed to open, leading to the death of cosmonaut Vladimir Komorov. Against this background, the signing of a treaty in October 1967 to oversee the peaceful use of space must have seemed a hollow victory.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/62286/original/h6h2n4m2-1413829728.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/62286/original/h6h2n4m2-1413829728.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62286/original/h6h2n4m2-1413829728.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62286/original/h6h2n4m2-1413829728.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62286/original/h6h2n4m2-1413829728.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62286/original/h6h2n4m2-1413829728.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62286/original/h6h2n4m2-1413829728.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Capturing asteroids.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.nasa.gov/content/asteroid-initiative-concept-image-gallery/#lowerAccordion-set1-slide1">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Now, however, the landscape – or, rather, <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-owns-the-moon-32721">moonscape</a> – has changed dramatically. China and Japan have had successful missions to the moon and India recently became the third agency to send a spacecraft to Mars. China has <a href="http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2014/10230750-china-to-launch-test-mission.html">successfully launched Chang’e 5</a>, a technology testing mission in preparation for lunar sample return. </p>
<p>So far, though, such space missions have been controlled by governments that signed the Outer Space Treaty. What happens when individual companies start to lead the exploration agenda? Could space piracy become an issue?</p>
<h2>Floating pirates</h2>
<p>The first step preparing the way for the potential exploitation of space resources was taken last month, when the US House of Congress Subcommittee on Science, Space and Technology started to discuss the so-called <a href="http://science.house.gov/hearing/subcommittee-space-exploring-our-solar-system-asteroids-act-key-step">ASTEROIDS Act</a>. This is the American Space Technology for Exploring Resource Opportunities In Deep Space Act, which has been drafted to establish and protect property rights for commercial exploration and exploitation of asteroids. The bill is an attempt to ensure the legitimacy of future attempts to mine an asteroid.</p>
<p>It is not clear whether the endeavour of mining an asteroid will be commercially viable, given the technological difficulties that will have to be overcome to undertake the mining operation, never mind returning the ore to Earth. But because several private companies have started making plans for such a project, governments must consider potential national consequences especially given that one of the principles of the Outer Space Treaty is that “states shall be responsible for national space activities whether carried out by governmental or non-governmental entities”.</p>
<p>The clever acronym does not change the fact that the boundary between Earth and space is much closer to home than the Asteroid Belt. Satellites in orbit around the Earth are also covered by the treaty. Two of the principles say that “states shall be liable for damage caused by their space objects” and “states shall avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies”. <a href="http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Space_Situational_Awareness">Space Situational Awareness</a> is the term used to describe the monitoring and tracking of natural and artificial objects in near Earth orbit, and is a major inter-governmental programme.</p>
<p>The launch of satellites by commercial companies first started becoming a reality about 30 years ago and is now a full-scale activity controlled by international law – a sort of Air Traffic Control System for satellites. What we don’t have is an equivalent to the <a href="http://www.unlawoftheseatreaty.org/">UN Law of the Sea</a>, overseen by the International Maritime Organisation. Before space piracy becomes a problem, maybe it is time that the UN Outer Space Treaty was bolstered by an International Space Organisation?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/33222/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The golden age of planetary exploration had voyagers navigating new sea routes to uncharted territory. These territories were then claimed in the name of the monarchs who had financed the expeditions…Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.