RARE -- CHAPTER 16 -- GOING THE DISTANCE (THE END)

CHAPTER 16 – GOING THE DISTANCE

In this chapter, the author presents current knowledge about the potential of harvesting rare earth elements from outside the earth.  As background, the author offers the following short history of element creation:  Moments after the big bang, only the lightest elements hydrogen, helium, lithium, and a small amount of beryllium were present.  As the universe expanded and stars formed, carbon atoms all the way to iron atoms were formed by collisions under intense heat, gravity, and the high density of atoms in the core of stars.  The creation terminated at iron because iron requires input of energy to undergo fusion.  As more iron atoms fused, it took away energy from its surroundings thus cooling of the core began “initiating a death spiral”.  This death spiral was followed by contraction of the stars which led to the creation of most elements on the periodic table.   Ownership and claims of extraterrestrial property are nebulous at best.  While selling parcels of the moon have been documented but not legitimized, a current object on the moon left by a Russian space mission, the Soviet lunar rover Lunokhod 2, has been successfully auctioned by the Russians, one of close to 75 man-made objects on the moon’s surface.  The moon surface is called regolith, a thin layer of soil containing metals.  Analysis shows not a large quantity of desired metals although it is rich in helium-3 that NASA is considering as a clean energy source, able to undergo two safe and efficient fusion reactions without producing radioactive waste.   Regolith has also been shown to be capable of being molded into structural material.  On the other hand, asteroids recovered on earth (meteorites) show that they are mostly made of iron and nickel.  In 4 billion year old extraterrestrial rock samples analyzed in Greenland, scientists found different concentrations of tungsten and neodymium compared to terrestrial rocks on the surface.  This suggests that asteroids composed mostly of iron and nickel may have small quantities of gold, tungsten, and other scarce “iron-loving” metals, which may have been an extraterrestrial source for the earth’s own supply after numerous collisions in the past.  Cash values have been assigned to some of the cataloged asteroids with the material in 4034 Vishnu and 2000 BM9 asteroids being valued at 20 trillion dollars each as mining targets.  In 2003, the Japanese launched the Hayabusa spacecraft to collect material for analysis from an asteroid circling the earth.  The Hayabusa was propelled by ion drive engines wherein xenon fuel atoms are ionized and the ions ejected in the opposite direction of the craft for propulsion.  It failed to collect samples except for those ending up on its surface due to the failure of the projectile launcher and sample collector.  They plan to launch a second mission by 2018 with space craft carrying the military-grade explosive cyclotetramethylenetetranitramine to help release samples from the asteroid.  Metals on asteroid surface are identified by telescopic reflectance spectroscopy which is used to compare reflectivity values measured off the asteroid surface with those of known minerals on the earth to determine the composition of the asteroid.  Asteroids are classified under the Tholen classification system depending on their predominant composition: s-type rocks are composed of mostly silicon compounds, c- type mostly of carbon and may carry water, and m-type may contain large amounts of metals like iron, nickel, and cobalt.  If extraterrestrial mining ever becomes feasible, the lowest hanging fruits are the asteroids.  While the moon has rare earth deposits, its thin atmosphere will require a large amount of energy to traverse.  Asteroids also do not have “nationalistic restrictions”.  Two possible propulsion systems described by the author to move the rock involve either using an ion drive thruster or ejecting broken pieces of the rock in the opposite direction.   These mining missions will most likely be unmanned as the cost of putting humans in space run upwards of $10,000/pound.  The author concludes that, “If the world runs out of rare metal resources, asteroids look to be an environmentally friendly but cost-prohibitive alternative with a slew of scientific roadblocks along the way.”

·         In this chapter, the author presents current knowledge about the potential of harvesting rare earth elements from outside the earth.

·         The author’s very short description of the theory of the creation of the elements:  Moments after the big bang, only the lightest elements hydrogen, helium, lithium, and a small amount of beryllium were present.  As the universe expanded and stars formed, carbon atoms all the way to iron atoms were formed by collisions under intense heat, gravity, and the high density of atoms in the core of stars.  Why did the formation terminate at iron?  Iron requires input of energy to undergo fusion.  As more iron atoms fused, it took away energy from its surroundings thus cooling of the core began “initiating a death spiral”.  This death spiral was followed by contraction of the stars which led to the creation of most elements on the periodic table.  “These elements, born out of the death of stars, are creations prized above all others after the basic building blocks of life like nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, phosphorus, and carbon are present and accounted for.”

·         Because of potential resources in these extraterrestrial regions, the author felt compelled to go into a mini-history of claims made on moon and Martian properties in the attempt to analyze who owns the moon and the planets and how this will be decided.

·         While selling parcels of the moon have been documented but not legitimized, a current object on the moon left by a Russian space mission, the Soviet lunar rover Lunokhod 2, has been successfully auctioned by the Russians.  There are close to 75 other spacecrafts on the surface of the moon.  Other Russians spacecraft have been sold off on acution.

·         The moon surface is called regolith, a thin layer of soil containing metals.  Analysis shows not a large quantity of desired metals.  Regolith is rich in helium-3 that NASA is considering as a clean energy source because of its ability to undergo two safe and efficient fusion reactions without the production of radioactive waste.  The sun is a source of helium-3 that lands on the moon and the planets.  Very little ends up on Earth because its magnetic field repels them away.

·         Regolith has also been shown to be capable of being molded into structural material.

·         Asteroids recovered on earth (meteorites) show that they are mostly made up of iron and nickel.  In 4 billion year old extraterrestrial rock samples analyzed in Greenland, scientists found different concentrations of tungsten and neodymium compared to terrestrial rocks on the surface.  This suggests that asteroids composed mostly of iron and nickel may have small quantities of gold, tungsten, and other scarce “iron-loving” metals, which may have been an extraterrestrial source for the earth’s own supply after numerous collisions in the past.

·         Cash values have been assigned to some of the cataloged asteroids with the material in 4034 Vishnu and 2000 BM9 asteroids being valued at 20 trillion dollars each as mining targets.

·         In 2003, the Japanese launched the Hayabusa spacecraft to collect material for analysis from an asteroid circling the earth.  The Hayabusa was propelled by ion drive engines wherein xenon fuel atoms are ionized and the ions ejected in the opposite direction of the craft for propulsion.  “This is the hybrid automobile approach to spaceflight, with only a small amount of xenon fuel necessary to move the Hayabusa along the desired contact route”.  The Hayabusa failed to collect samples except for those ending up on its surface due to the failure of the projectile launcher and sample collector.  They plan to launch a second mission by 2018 with space craft carrying the military-grade explosive cyclotetramethylenetetranitramine to help release samples from the asteroid.

·         Telescopic reflectance spectroscopy is used to compare reflectivity values measured off the asteroid surface with those of known minerals on the earth to determine the composition of the asteroid.

·         Asteroids are classified under the Tholen classification system as:

o   s-type – composed of mostly silicon compounds

o   c- type – composed mostly of carbon, may carry water

o   m-type – may contain large amounts of metals like iron, nickel, and cobalt, high reflectivity

·         If extraterrestrial mining ever becomes feasible, the lowest hanging fruits are the asteroids.  While the moon has rare earth deposits, its thin atmosphere will require a large amount of to traverse.  Asteroids also do not have “nationalistic restrictions”.

·         The author presents some images of how asteroids can be mined.  One possibility is to tow it closer to the earth using ion-drive thrusters (it propels objects by ejecting charged atoms of hydrogen, bismuth, and xenon).  Another possibility is a device that breaks up the asteroid and then ejecting broken pieces in the direction opposite where the asteroid is meant to go. 

·         These mining missions will most likely be unmanned as the cost of putting humans in space run upwards of $10,000/pound.