How to Drag an Asteroid to Earth
With some assistance from gravity, it is possible with currently-available technologies to bring small asteroids into orbit next to Earth to be studied and mined.
With some assistance from gravity, it is possible with currently-available technologies to bring small asteroids into orbit next to Earth to be studied and mined.
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?