My Science fiction story will be about a evil villain who plans to mine gold and other precious metals from asteroids and bring them back to earth in hopes of destroying the economy. A team of highly skilled military trained astronauts will have to find a way to stop him. The countries of the world have to band together to find a solution to prevent this from happening again. The story will include asteroid mining, 3d printing, water powered space craft, space weaponry, using radar and IR cameras to determine asteroid composition, and others. The storyline will mostly follow the actions of the villain and his demise at the hands of justice.
Near earth asteroid mining has the potential to greatly benefit human life on earth and make space travel
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Some asteroids are made of a clay like material. These have high concentration of water, which has many uses in space. Water is dense and is expensive to take up in space. Current launch from earth costs approximately $10,000 per kilogram. Water is necessary for life, being able to retrieve water from asteroids eliminates the need for wastewater treatment systems and large on board tanks. Many explorations are limited due to not being able to bring enough fuel. It is the hope of many companies to use asteroids like gas stations, refueling so missions can continue …show more content…
In the case of the asteroid 3D printer, it actually expands the capabilities. On earth, three dimensional printers must print on a build plate and the size of the object that can be printed depends on the size of the printer. In space, there are no forces to interact with the print, so the whole galaxy becomes the limit for print sizes. Three dimensional printers can print replacement parts if something is damaged in space and can even make more printers to expand mining operations. Large habitats are needed for long distance interplanetary travel. With the use of in space manufacturing, this is much easier to achieve. Missions to mars will require very large spaces for the six to nine month journey. Taking earth-built habitats into space would be very costly, even when rocket technology improves. Making parts of the craft in space will make the trip less expensive and more attainable. Asteroid mining can be used to prevent natural disasters. If a large asteroid is headed towards earth, mining companies can break down the asteroid into harmless pieces and use the matter for continuing
Why should scientists be impelled to work tirelessly to search the vast reaches of space? There’s one crucial answer that we all must come to terms on if we wish to ensure the continuation of the human legacy; Resources. Studies have shown that by 2030, inhabitants of our earth will need another two earths worth of resources to satisfy the constant needs of the 7 billion people around the world. Today we are using resources 44% faster than nature can regenerate. Many feel that our world is still rich with what resources we need, but this is only a contemporary statement. The reason for this is our constant dissipation of resources that are, and will always be diminishing. Humans have consistently looke...
The continuation of space exploration is vital to the human race, because it is a clear expression of man’s desire to expand and advance in knowledge and experience. The launch of the International Space Station is among one of the space programs greatest achievements. “On January 25th, 1994, The International Space Station was the highlight of a moment brimming with promise“ (Logsdon, 2008 p.237). This moment not only helped to define both technology and the economy as successful beneficiaries of Space Exploration, but also as a historically inspirational scientific development. I support continued space exploration because the discoveries and innovations that have developed from space exploration research, have made a tremendous technological and economic impact on the United States, justifying its costs. I will elaborate on these advances and discoveries in this research paper.
The continued advancement of our technology now and in the future, will help better our way of life here on earth and in outer space. The ISS will continue to venture outer space to provide research opportunities with conjoined efforts and continued relationships with the participating countries.
As a country we need to start investing more money and research into space technology. Programs currently exist for this effort, but the potential for research and progress is limited by a lack of funding; compared to other government funded programs, aerospace funding is pitiful. Continued research in space technology is a necessary step in our growth and development not just as a country but also as entire human race. If we are to achieve this goal, it is necessary to increase funding for space research and technology and consider the possibility of colonizing outer space. If we limit our existence to the planet Earth, and continue to drain the resources on this planet, we will destroy the only home we have.
Space exploration needs advancing scientific research, more machineries and equipments which means that it would cost us a lot of
Since the historical launch of the first successful artificial satellite Sputnik on October 4th 1957 humanity has launched thousands of satellites into orbit above Earth. The prodigious use of Earth’s orbit has resulted in an important consequence, space debris. While currently most space debris does not pose a serious threat to Earth or operating space technology the planned increase of satellite launches as well as the continued accumulation of debris from current satellites will necessitate drastic action in order to ensure that Earth orbit technology remains viable. The ability of space debris to hinder further space exploration and travel is also a necessary obstacle to overcome in order for future investment in space technologies by global governments and private industries. Finally the valuable nature of components used in satellites, chiefly gold but also including other metals creates an important economic incentive for the reclamation and recycling of components found within the atmosphere. These factors lead to the logical conclusion that by the year 2025 a space debris reclamation project must begin in order to ensure the continuing advancement of current communication, navigation, defense, and scientific technologies.
The “gold rush” could soon become the “asteroid rush”. Mining space is something that has never been conducted behind NASA, but behind private companies this is a new venture that can be explored. Although, the technical aspects still need to be worked out and the thought of mining asteroids is ludicrous, this is a very feasible option. Many companies have already constructed a plan on how they could mine these asteroids. In an interview with Elon Musk, he discusses how mining asteroids will one day be able to sustain the space economy. When Musk refers to the space economy he is referencing his idea and plan of one day colonizing Mars along with constant interplanetary travel. “Others [asteroids] are substantial and potentially packed full of water and various important minerals, such as nickel, cobalt, and iron. One day, advocates believe, those objects will be tapped by variations on the equipment used in the coal mines of Kentucky or in the diamond mines of Africa. And for immense gain: According to industry experts, the contents of a single asteroid could be worth trillions of dollars” (Shaer). The thought of wiping out the entire United States debt with one or two successful excavations of an asteroids should be enough to gain public support of privately funded space programs. Although private, these companies will need immense public support. In order to gain billionaire investors and find people willing to risk their life to pioneer space, people want a plan. Private companies such as Blue Origin and SpaceX have provided the world with numerous plans on how we can commercialize space on our journey to discover more of the vast
...enhance our knowledge about what lies in space but will also help our nation and the world in terms of resources and energy.
Goldman Sachs issued a report to its investors that asteroid mining is more realistic than perceived and would actually have costs similar to traditional mining. While actual costs of the asteroid mining enterprise are still largely variable, the Keck Institute for Space Studies estimates the cost to identify and then bring a 500-ton asteroid to low earth orbit would be approximately $2.6 billion. The mineral resource value on many of the near-Earth asteroids are measured in the quintillions of dollars based on what their contents would be worth in the current economy. Table 1 lists the two most valuable asteroids currently identified by the asteroid mining companies. How the process of mining materials from space would be accomplished is of course very technical and complicated, but, companies like Planetary Resources claim they have a safe and efficient mining system under development.
Aside from all the negative remarks made about space exploration there is lots of innovation stemming from it. Exploration of space has directly and indirectly helped create new technologies and advancements that have directly benefitted our lives. The challenge of space exploration drives a continuing effort to design ever more capable, reliable, and efficient systems requiring the utmost ingenuity. Space exploration missions use the unique capabilities of humans and robots to achieve ambitious exploration goals. Maximizing these capabilities of humans and robots for the productivity of these missions drives progress in human health care, robotics, automation, and other domains. (International Space Exploration Coordination Group, 2013, para.22) A vast amount of technologies such as GPS navigation, weather, cell phones, are all things that would not have been possible without technologies created for the exploration of space. The truth of it is that every step forward we make in space exploration not only advances our knowledge of the Universe, but also it shows us the new height human innovation and technology can achieve as a result of this. (Jessa, T, 2009, para.3) We in our everyday lives are surrounded by a vast amount of technologies developed for space exploration. For example, the artificial heart resulted from experiments on the space shuttle and a partnership with renowned heart surgeon Dr. Michael Debakey. The hand held Jaws of Life used to save victims from car wrecks originated from the system used to separate the space shuttle from its booster rockets. Even the insulation that keeps our homes warm and energy efficient is based on the technology used to insulate the space shuttle." (Jessa, T, 2009, para.4) There a...
At one time these technological developments even could not imagine by people, now it is truth that we live in. Sending astronauts and satellites into space resulted in new capabilities and products that have transformed our culture and created a major sector of the global economy that worth trillions of dollars. So in that perspective continuing to explore space is more reasonable. As it was in the past to expect that investing billions for exploring space will yield future economic benefits presently impossible to
There are many reasons that space exploration should continue. If Earth ever becomes too overpopulated or over polluted, then perhaps people can move to Mars. The world population in 1970 was approximately 4 billion people, and is currently nearly 6 billion people. The world population in 2015 is estimated to be 7 billion people. There is a possibility that there are useful resources on Mars. Scientists have found ice and some other clues, such as craters, volcanoes, and valleys, that have led them to believe that there was once life on Mars, and they believe that sometime in the future, should planet Earth need to be evacuated, humans will be able to live there (Jakosky 142). Many of the rocks on Mars appear to have been formed by gasses, breathable by humans and other creatures. A process called terraforming will allow astronauts to make use of the resources that are on the planet and create an atmosphere that will support life. One method for terraforming is that scientists would convert the gaseous rocks back into gasses, and use gas-eating organisms to eat the gas, which results in the formation of other gasses. If these organisms continue the cycle, then Mars would have a stable atmosphere for humans to live in (Getz 39).
Populating another planet could help solve the population crisis and climate change simultaneously. Though, it seems we are not at that point currently, which is exactly why it is imperative that the government increase funding for space exploration. Now, even if inter-galactic habitation isn’t possible, space research helps us protect ourselves from asteroids and other threats, and could also be used to find other planetary resources. Nonetheless, it seems space research is of utmost significance if we want to continue living as a species.
Space exploration can lead to the possibility to find useful resources throughout the galaxy for human gain. Many severe problems on earth could be solved through space exploration such as world hunger, overpopulation, and dwindling fuel sources. Things such as fuel could be harvested from planets for power generation and propulsion technology, and land to cultivate for growing food, as well as land for building living areas for the growing population. These potential resources...
Space exploration is very beneficial to humankind because it creates new technologies, it brings different countries together, and gives people a better understanding of our Earth.