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Yes, you'd probably want to go get some asteroids. Even small ones can contain huge amounts of metals, and icy ones could be turned into fuel. There's a lot o
by mkl 7y ago
Yes, you'd probably want to go get some asteroids. Even small ones can contain huge amounts of metals, and icy ones could be turned into fuel. There's a lot of potential, but it's all a bit out of reach for the moment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining
- JoeAltmaier 7y agoIsn't moon dust mostly bauxite? (oxidized aluminum)
- mkl 7y agoNot exactly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_the_Moon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_the_Moon. I think the problem with moon resources is the moon's gravity while forming was strong enough to pull metals like iron and nickel down into the centre where we can't get at them (they're on the surface a bit too, but not conveniently concentrated). Asteroids, on the other hand, can contain lots of accessible nickel, iron, cobalt, etc. I'm no expert though!
- ben_w 7y agoWikipedia looks like it says [0], by elemental concentration, roughly 42% oxygen, 21% silicon, 12% iron, 8% calcium, 7% aluminium, 6% magnesium, 4% other. [0] Bar graph with insufficient labels: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Composition_of_lunar_soil.svg https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Composition_of_lunar_so...
- imglorp 7y agoMagnesium should be even better for some space apps. In fact, it would sinter better in a vacuum than air. https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/wiley/sintering-of-magnesium-h06EgJZS7r https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/wiley/sintering-of-magnesium-h06...
- HeyLaughingBoy 7y agoStill, the concept of space mining is slowly becoming a thing: https://space.mines.edu/ https://space.mines.edu/