Strike new gold from asteroid mining?

The recent meteor crash in Russia injured about 1,200 people, but space rocks and asteroids are usually rich in mineral resources, and potential risks cannot stop people from exploiting these resources.

Most known asteroids in the solar system are in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. There are a large number of asteroids rich in chemical and mineral resources, and metallic asteroids are most worthy of exploitation.

Metallic asteroids are mainly composed of iron and nickel, and contain many rare metals, including platinum, rhodium, iridium, and osmium.

Experts said that a metallic asteroid with a diameter of only 1,000 meters may weigh 2 billion tons, containing 200 million tons of iron, 30 million tons of high-quality nickel, 1.5 million tons of strategic metal cobalt, and 75 million tons of platinum group metals (PGMs). The asteroid's platinum reserve alone is worth 150 billion U.S. dollars.

Compared with the Moon and Mars, asteroids are much easier to be mined. The gravity of asteroids is negligible, which greatly facilitates the taking off and landing of spacecraft as well as the construction of mining facilities. Furthermore, an asteroid can provide a microgravity environment for research and development in high-technology industries.

So far, human beings have only conducted sporadic unmanned exploration of asteroids.

Japan's unmanned spacecraft Hayabusa landed on an asteroid named 25143 Itokawa and returned a sample of the asteroid to Earth in 2010. U.S. spacecraft Dawn left Vesta last year on a course for Ceres, and is expected to arrive in 2015.

China is a newcomer to asteroid exploration. Chinese lunar probe Chang'e 2 flew by an asteroid named 4179 Toutatis at a distance of about 3 kilometers on Dec. 13, 2012, and took clear photos of the asteroid using its solar wing surveillance cameras. This was China's first asteroid exploration.

Two U.S. companies, Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries, are working toward asteroid mining.

Planetary Resources has started manufacturing space telescopes for observing asteroids, and will send probes to selected asteroids for prospecting. Deep Space Industries plans to launch its first asteroid-mining spacecraft named FireFly into space in two years.

As early as 2005, U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) unveiled plans to send humans back to the moon in 2018. It planned to tap potentially large reserves of helium-3 on the moon, and pave the way for Mars exploration.

Space mining, if it becomes a reality, will exert an unimaginable impact on all aspects of people's lives.

The value of PGMs may fall sharply, and the world financial order will be affected. If enough helium-3 is used to fuel nuclear fusion power plants, energy will no longer be a problem. The electricity generated from just a fuel tank of helium-3 can power the entire Untied States for one year.

The development of deep-space technology will also expand the boundaries of human activity. Mining sites on asteroids can be used for exploring deeper into space, and even be transformed into villas for space tourists.