The cosmos is a vast whole that humanity has always strived for. It holds the truth about our origins, and some believe it contains many of the answers to the future of the human race.
Many scientists, thinkers and space enthusiasts think that somewhere there are waiting for us a bunch of useful raw materials, such as metals and minerals, that can change our whole lives.
Of course, space exploration is something that costs a lot of money with the basic idea of discovering new opportunities for us humans. Studying this space, surrounding the Earth and the solar system , called the Universe, is an incredible endeavor, especially considering that it is infinite and boundless.
An interesting fact is that this huge body even expands all the time and this has been happening for billions of years. This process shows that things are changing.
For many of us the colossal size and innumerable mysteries of the universe are incomprehensible and it’s hard for us to imagine things. However, there are enthusiasts like Elon Musk, who have already taken the first steps.
We see, for example, his project called “ Spacex”. He deals with rocket launch and works seriously on the possibility of free travel in outer space.
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Space travel is actually one of the first and most important steps in the detailed study of near and far extraterrestrial objects.
As we all know, the first steps in this direction were taken in the 1960s , when Yuri Gagarin from the USSR makes the first round of the earth, and Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin (better known by his nickname Buzz) and Michael Collins reach the moon a few years later.
In 2011 the space rover “Curiosity ” managed to set foot on Mars, which was a serious breakthrough in our knowledge of this planet, which gave rise to subsequent discoveries about it.
Over the years, samples have been sent to Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn, to the moon of Mars Phobos , and to the moon of Saturn Titan as well as some asteroids and comets.
What will be the next step?
Today, literature and the film industry offer us an extremely rich palette of stories related to space. Which of them may be true remains to be seen.
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Which planets have been mined for precious metals?
The Moon
As the closest cosmic body is a very attractive destination in space. The desire to establish research centers there and start research has already been expressed not only by countries such as the United States and the Russian Federation, which space colonizers have long been established, as has the People’s Republic of China, which has been rapidly catching up with them in recent decades.
Of course, there are a lot of disputes how to divide the territory of the Moon , as well as who will be able to use the right to extract its resources. A number of other questions remain open, still unanswered.
Natural resources have long provoked many disputes and controversies between different countries. To date, the extraction of resources on the moon is a real opportunity that many countries around the world are eager to realize.
A number of studies have already been done with space probes and the results show that on our space satellite can be found huge amounts of ores of iron, aluminum, titanium, calcium, magnesium and more many other valuable raw materials.
Due to the lack of clear rules for the extraction of minerals and in particular metals from space , for many countries it is still just a mirage and no serious steps are being taken in this direction.
Image: Pixabay
Other interesting objects in outer space are asteroids . As we know, they are flying pieces. For researchers these cosmic bodies are extremely interesting , as they travel freely through space, becoming a kind of information capsules.
It is possible asteroids to travel from other galaxies and carry with them your information about conditions and opportunities in other parts of the universe.
Many scientists believe that in addition to the metals we know on earth, an asteroid may also contain new, hitherto unknown metals and raw materials to reveal a vast array of possibilities for all of humanity. Of course, this is only part of the surprises that such a cosmic body hides. The possibilities are endless.
Many experts say that it is the extraction of various useful ores from asteroids will lay the foundations of space mining. For this purpose, the different types of asteroids are categorized according to the possibilities they offer us.
Type C contain more water and less metal, while type S more precious metals and less water can be extracted. There is also type M, where the metal content is extremely high.
Mars
Another extremely attractive object is the planet Mars. Numerous projects of NASA and Spacex are dedicated to its research and the construction of a ground base there. But why is there so much interest in Mars?
Is this due to the proximity of the planet to ours? This is definitely not the only reason. The answer, in fact, is that The Red Planet has a great resemblance to Earth in terms of its geological profile.
Surface pressure, the composition of the atmosphere, the length of the day, the intensity of solar radiation, etc. – all of them on Mars have indicators close to Earth.
These things are extremely important for a real mission to Mars and building a base with its own flora , with the idea to integrate it to the local climate. An important factor in this case is the abundance of natural resources.
It has numerous deposits of metal ores . A curious fact is that the red color we are used to associating the planet with is due to the rich presence of raw materials, especially iron oxide.
We should also not forget that more than 7 kilotons of space debris fly into Earth’s orbit. These are parts of old satellites, ships, unnecessary containers and others that have been launched from Earth at one time.
In organized collection and recycling of this type of waste may in practice valuable materials are extracted to be used for ships or other types of apparatus and equipment. US scientists believe that by 2050 we will be able to move space stations to recycle this garbage.
The planet Venus
It is also in the sights of NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency, the Chinese National Space Administration and others. So far, a number of missions have been made to study it. An interesting fact about it is that its surface temperature is about 400 degrees Celsius.