MINING ASTEROIDS?

This is from an article in the "Seattle Business" magazine.

 

 

Is the idea of mining asteroids a science-fiction notion or can it become a reality?  A number of companies have sprung up to take on the challenge.  Funded by some of the world's wealthiest people and staffed by some of the top minds in aeronautics, these companies believe the time has come for a new multibillion-dollar space industry, with the Puget Sound region serving as its launch pad.

 

Planetary Resources located in Bellevue Washington wants to use unmanned spacecraft to mine asteroids for precious metals.  There are thousands of near-Earth asteroids in close proximity to our planet.  Past analysis shows a single one could contain very large amounts of platinum-group metals.

 

There are many challenges ahead but there is also the intrigue of going beyond our earthly environment and heading out into space, the final frontier.