Many Raw materials on earth are scarce: oil, natural gas, gold, platinum, and also water are only available in limited quantities and it is becoming more and more difficult for us humans to extract these raw materials. Asteroid mining could be the solution: Because in space there are millions of Asteroids are on the move in space, carrying precisely these scarce raw materials inside them, and if people succeed in mining these raw materials from the asteroids, the problem of scarce raw materials would be solved for all time.
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Earth’s Raw Materials Are Running Out
There are many raw materials on earth that we need for all kinds of things. The best example of this is gold: many people do not know, for example, that gold is not only useful for jewelry but is also an electrical conductor is also excellently suited as a raw material. And so gold is found in every cell phone- in small quantities, to be sure, but it is indispensable. The earth’s gold reserves, however, are slowly running out. All the heavy metals have migrated further and further into the earth’s interior over the millennia. So we still have plenty of it, but we can’t get there to mine it.
The Future Of Mining Starts Now
Therefore, asteroid mining is a real alternative. There are countless asteroids flying around in space that have the very substances we need on Earth. You just have to be able to mine them somehow. In July 2015, a small probe called “Akryd 3-R” was undocked from the ISS and is now in orbit around Earth, looking for asteroids close enough to reach it. The second mission will then be launched at the end of 2015 and planning for mining will begin.
Explanation Of The Difficult Words:
Raw materials are substances that occur naturally in the earth’s soil. They are often only degradable at great depths and are therefore considered scarce because mining requires a lot of effort.
Asteroids are chunks of rock that fly through space. They range from tennis ball-sized asteroids to asteroids as large as an entire continent.
An electrical conductor is a substance that can conduct electricity. Metals in particular are very good electrical conductors.
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