This book investigates the prospective energy and material resources that could be gathered from asteroids and brought back to earth. It presents past and future technologies and solutions to old problems that could soon become reality.

The Earth has limited material and energy resources while these resources in space are virtually unlimited. Further development of humanity will require going beyond our planet and exploring of extraterrestrial resources and sources of unlimited power.

 

Thus far, all missions to asteroids have been motivated by scientific exploration. However, given recent advancements in various space technologies, mining asteroids for resources is becoming ever more feasible. A significant portion of asteroids value is derived from their location; the required resources do not need to be lifted at a great expense from the surface of the Earth.

 

Resources derived from Asteroid not only can be brought back to Earth but could also be used to sustain human exploration of space and permanent settlements in space.

 

This book investigates asteroids' prospective energy and material resources. It is a collection of topics related to asteroid exploration, and utilization. It presents past and future technologies and solutions to old problems that could become reality in our life time. The book therefore is a great source of condensed information for specialists involved in current and impending asteroid-related activities and a good starting point for space researchers, inventors, technologists and potential investors.

 

Written for researchers, engineers, and businessmen interested in asteroids' exploration and exploitation.

 

Keywords: Asteroids, Asteroid exploration, Asteroid exploitation, Energy sources, Space Resources, Material Resources, In-Situ Resource Utilization, Mining

 

Asteroids close-up: what we have learned from twenty years of space exploration.- Trojan asteroids in the inner Solar System.- Orbital and dynamical characteristics of small bodies in the region of inner planets.- Prospecting Asteroid Resources.- What's out there? Asteroid models for target selection and mission planning.- Earth's Temporarily-Captured Natural satellites - The First Step Towards Utilization of Asteroid Resources.- Human missions to NEO's - A system perspective.- Designing robots for gravity-independent locomotion.- Bio-inspired landing approaches and their potential use on extraterrestrial bodies.- Electric Power System Options for Robotic Miners.- Rubble-pile Near Earth Objects: Insights from Granular Physics.- Asteroids: Anchoring and Sample Acquisition Approaches in Support of Science, Exploration, and In Situ Resource Utilization.- Closed-Cycle Pneumatics for Asteroid Regolith Mining.- Extracting Asteroidal Mass for Robotic Construction.- Curing of construction composite materials on asteroids.- Architecture for an Asteroid-Mining Spacecraft.- Near Earth Asteroid - Prospection, Orbit Modification, Mining and Habitation.- Available asteroid resources in the Earth's neighborhood.- Asteroid Capture.- Change the Asteroid Trajectory.- Opportunities for Asteroid Retrieval Missions.- Shaped Metal Earth-delivery System.- Artificial gravitation on Asteroids.- Making asteroids habitable.- Usage of Asteroid Resources for Space-based Geo-engineering.- Using asteroid for Launch/Landing, Change of Trajectory and Acceleration of Space Ships.- Observation of asteroids for searching extraterrestrial artifacts.- The Case for Asteroids: Commercial Concerns and Considerations.- Legal Considerations on Asteroid Exploitation and Deflection.