Asteroid Nereus Holds Precious Metals Worth Billions
Space mining is the exploitation of minerals from bodies in outer space. This type of mining has been heralded as a new way to obtain minerals without the environmental risks associated with land mining. This is in addition to revolutionizing the commercial space economy by creating employment opportunities for private astronauts and robots. Many believe that space mining is the future because it can facilitate the exploration for and extraction of precious metals and rare earth minerals from near-Earth asteroids. However, little has been done to advance the idea. Recently, an egg-shaped, near-Earth asteroid with a 330-meter diameter passed near…