/sci/ - Science & Math

>>12469884
it's a carbonaceous asteroid, so I'm betting it has lots of hydrogen and carbon. Iron wouldn't surprise me though.
>>12469981
the gas was a bonus sample in addition to what they already got. I can't wait to find out what it is!
>>12470133
Anon, the big deal here is getting the same elements we have on earth, but at a lower delta V cost to put in orbit. Carbonaceous asteroids could have a decent amount of water which could be used as propellent. Delta V cost to asteroids is pretty low and if you can extract water on the asteroid you can use it as propellant to get the rest of the water home. Finding amino acids and other prebiotic molecules would be cool too.

>>10866482
Falcon 9 is sufficient to make asteroid mining not a meme:
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/niac_sercel_phase_i_final_report_tagged.pdf
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/apis-asteroid-provided-in-situ-supplies-100mt-of-water-from-a-single-falcon-9/

NASA could save over $300 billion dollars by mining water from asteroids. A single Falcon 9 v 1.1 launch, which is normally capable of delivering 22 metric tons to LEO, could provide 100 metric tons of water to a cislunar orbit. You get almost 5 times the mass you could normally launch and further out. That's a pretty fucking big deal. It's such a big deal that NASA's working on a demo mission to test the tech necessary to mine the water out.
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/niac/2019_Phase_I_Phase_II/Mini_Bee_Prototype/
>>10866811
that's what I said.

>>10139524
>>Taking fuel up into space
then mine propellant that's already in space.