Let’s Lasso Us Some Space Rocks: Asteroid Mining And You

Let’s Lasso Us Some Space Rocks: Asteroid Mining And You

A coalition of willing billionaires, spaceflight professionals, and scientific advisors under the banner of Planetary Resources have announced their intention to go out there and mine themselves some asteroids. Are they serious? What’s going to happen? What does it mean for astronomers and planetary scientists? What contributions will the scientific community make, and what data do we stand to gain?