Mars could be used as a base for asteroid exploration and mining of resources: Study

It has not been long since space agencies from different countries are launching asteroid exploration missions. In the recent past, NASA launched a mission in 2016 to an asteroid that will bring samples next year, whereas the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) got its hands on samples from another asteroid in 2020. And since this new domain of exploration is expected to turn profitable soon, a new study by experts from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) suggests that Mars can act as a base for exploration and even asteroid mining. 

In their study, the experts noted that the trend of asteroid exploration will pick up the pace with the near-Earth objects (NEO) which cross the Earth's orbit. However, in the long run, this practice would expand to the asteroid belt, which is between Mars and Jupiter.

How would Mars help in asteroid mining?

The study published in the journal Planetary and Space Science suggests that Mars can be used to make a spacecraft land on an asteroid in the asteroid belt. According to estimates, asteroids in the main belt contain about 10,000 times as many resources as NEOs. But major roadblocks in their exploration are cost and weight of the fuel needed, arranging the shipment of samples back to Earth, and most importantly, making a spacecraft rendezvous-- slow down once it reaches its destination.

Previously, CfA astronomers Martin Elvis, and Jonathan McDowell have shown that the Martian moon, Phobos, which orbits about six thousand kilometres from Mars's surface, can help a spacecraft rendezvous with an asteroid. In this study, the experts explained what is called "delta-V", which denotes the kinematic requirement of accomplishing a spacecraft manoeuvre for rendezvous. For a spacecraft in low-Earth orbit, the speed required for asteroid rendezvous is four kilometres per second whereas for main-belt asteroids it is seven kilometres per second since they are more energetic.

While financing the mission remains a major factor in developing a mining project on asteroids, the Harvard scientists claim that launching and returning to an operations centre based in a Phobos-like orbit is really advantageous and convenient. They even added that large-scale resource mining could also increase human access to the Martian surface.