Space Matts!!

In the last few weeks of Frontiers we have shifted from learning about the deep seas to outer space. We started with the history of our understanding of space. Understanding started when the first human being looked up at the stars but in terms of recorded understanding we viewed the stars as gods; beings to rule over us and dictate our lives. In some ways they were right as celestial bodies do affect the earth in real ways. At this time we had Ptolemy who suggested that the planets and stars had us at the center of the universe under the name “Geocentric Theory”. Far later we have Copernicus who had a hard time suggesting anything else as by that time the church had a firm grasp on sciences in what was claimed legitimate being if anything did not agree with what they taught was fake. Eventually he was able to publish his heliocentric theory which was able to go out as it left room for a heaven and hell. And finally we came to Kepler and Newton and Einstein who figured out the movement of the planets. Collectively they explained that all orbits are elliptical, Uranus orbits elliptical but was still weird because it was being pulled by an extra planets: Neptune, and Mercury wasn't being pulled by another planet but instead the Sun just has a much greater pull (gravity) than the planets and thus pulls Mercury awkwardly. It's a lot I know but there is still more. We then took turns presenting on different topics from chapters in a book titled “Astrophysics for people in a hurry” which entailed the great knowledge of the universe. I got dark matter which in short is massless matter that exerts gravity onto regular matter. From here we are to make another research paper with one of the great challenges in mind for the exploration of the universe. The one I wanted to talk about is the gathering of space resources. So how can we effectively extract resources from outer space?

To answer the question we should first look at what resources there are in the first place. The easiest way to see is not by going out into the cosmos looking and cherry picking what we need but to see what has come to us. According to Universities Space Research Association meteors come in three main forms; Rocky, Rocky-Iron, and Iron. They are then categorized further based on age, color, and internal arrey. In terms of actual minerals we commonly find iron, silver, and silicate. These may be the most common but meteors have also shown us the potential for newly found alloys with discoveries like the superconductive meteorites found in Australia made of an alloy of lead, indium, and tin.

From the thousands of meteorites that enter the earth's atmosphere every year, and the new discoveries they bring, it is made apparent that mineral resources are plentiful not only on other planets and moons but also just floating around in the galaxy. In fact efforts have been made to collect samples of asteroids to earth. According to the LSA: “The first Japanese Hayabusa (“Peregrine Falcon”) probe brought some 1,500 grains of material back from the Itokawa asteroid in 2010. A second Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency probe reached the Ryugu asteroid in 2019. If all goes well, its samples will be back on Earth two years later.”

I have only touched on one small part of the great amount of wealth in resources we could get from the universe being minerals; while a short list would include water, gas, and power but I’m led into the next point being how. How would we propose going up, making the trip to “X” location, landing, collecting, taking off again, and coming back. There have been attempts and plans for this but they usually come at an enormous cost. In the case of the Hayabusa probe, it went to an asteroid rather than a planet which means it was able to essentially do a drive-by in that the probe got right up next to it and “sucked in” samples through a tube and flew back. With the lack of gravity from the asteroid this was possible but doing so with a planet or moon is another story.

Though we have made many trips for small quantities of material this isn't all that efficient in the scheme of resource gathering and utilization. A suggestion from NASA scientist Michael B. Dukes for starting this process using an already existing program from DARPA. The program is called the “Orbital Express” which is used to repair and refuel military satellites. The plan is to augment their “Orbital Express” to supply ships/ probes with fuel and needed parts once a lighter launched object has made it out of the atmosphere; a then fueled and set ship/ probe will begin its journey out into space looking for its intended landing and gathering point.

"DARPA Orbital Express Diagram" Michael B Dukes, Taken 2022

Because we are getting to soon be able to travel the stars and gather from the galaxy many are trying to decide who gets to do so. It's a hot topic on how we proceed as the greatest minds, human resources, investors, and leaders gather for the “Luxembourg Space Resources Week” to decide on the future of space in the EU. “On Friday the Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister Etienne Schneider and ESA Director General Jan Wörner committed to strengthening collaboration in the field of space resources research and innovation, including the announcement of the Luxembourg Space Resources Innovation Centre that will focus on extraction, processing and manufacturing of space resources.” -ESA 10/22/2019

Abbud-Madrid, A. (2021, June 28). Space resource utilization. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Planetary Science. Retrieved May 27, 2022, from https://oxfordre.com/planetaryscience/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190647926.001.0001/acrefore-9780190647926-e-13 

Duke, Michael. Space Resources. history.nasa.gov/DPT/Technology%20Priorities%20Recommendations/Space%20Resources%20DPT%20Boulder%2000.pdf.

“Meteorites and Their Properties - The Structure and Composition of Meteorites.” USRA.EDU, www.lpi.usra.edu/science/kring/epo_web/meteorites/composition.html. Accessed 27 May 2022.

“Resources in Space.” Space Resources - Luxembourg Space Agency, 25 May 2022, space-agency.public.lu/en/space-resources/ressources-in-space.html.

“New Era of Locally-Sourced Resources in Space.” ESA, https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/New_era_of_locally-sourced_resources_in_space. 

This AP has been something. I’m getting to the end of my high school career and I’m unfortunately getting tired of the writing that I used to love putting together. This AP was like trying to push a grocery cart with a busted wheel as I kept getting distracted but I think I was able to round it out as I learned from my mistakes in the first paper this term on the oceans. I had not as many quotes or direct references in my first paper so it looked as if I could have made it up if there was no backing. I changed that this time around and made sure to mark where I used each resource by quote or link. Thank you for looking through my APs over time and I hope you have a good day, night, or whenever you read this. 

-CDH