The Odin probe has officially begun its groundbreaking mission to explore the mining potential of an asteroid, launching aboard a SpaceX rocket. Accompanying Odin is a robotic lunar lander that will drill for water and a lunar orbiter developed by the University of Oxford to map water resources.
This ambitious deep space mission aims to assess asteroid 2022 OB5, believed to be abundant in platinum and other crucial metals essential for electronic, medical, and green technologies. Matt Gialich, co-founder and engineer at AstroForge, informed Sky News about the declining availability of platinum group metals on Earth, emphasizing the challenges of mining these resources from underground.
“We’ve extracted the easily accessible sources of platinum on Earth,” Gialich explained. “Currently, we are forced to dig thousands of meters below the surface, which is extremely challenging. However, we know these metals are readily available in space, which is why we aim to go up instead of down.”
Odin is set to take approximately 300 days to reach the asteroid, located around one million miles from Earth. Once it arrives, the probe will capture detailed images of the surface to verify its metallic composition.
Later this year, AstroForge plans to send a second probe to land on the asteroid and conduct tests for platinum and other elements. If the asteroid confirms its rich mineral deposits, the first mining missions could soon follow.
AstroForge has designed an innovative low-energy refining process that could yield 1,000 kilograms of high-quality metal within three months, which would then be transported back to Earth.
“Costs associated with space missions have dramatically decreased,” noted Gialich. “The economics are becoming more viable, allowing us to build and launch affordable spacecraft to explore these opportunities.”
Research conducted at the Natural History Museum in London has revealed that certain meteorites that have landed on Earth possess the characteristics of metallic asteroids. Professor Sara Russell, a cosmic mineralogy expert at the museum, shared insights into their rarity and richness in valuable materials.
“Metallic asteroids are less common compared to stony ones,” Professor Russell stated. “However, they comprise a significant portion of our collection, confirming their existence in space. We recognize that they are rich in elements like platinum, cobalt, and nickel, making them fantastic resources.”
Gialich emphasized that now is the time for humanity to rethink its approach to resource mining.
“The current mining practices are among the most environmentally damaging processes on Earth,” he stated. “We are harming our planet to sustain our lifestyle. Asteroid mining presents a new opportunity to maintain our way of life without the associated costs to our environment.”
Credit: Sky News
