Some individual #asteroids possess upwards of US$50 billion of #platinum. In comparison, #SouthAfrica , the largest producer of platinum at about 72 percent of the world’s supply, mined only about US$3.8 billion worth of platinum in 2018 https://hir.harvard.edu/economics-of-the-stars

Early next year, a #SpaceX rocket will be launching a #spacecraft to an #asteroid that will take about nine months to reach.
As the world transitions away from #FossilFuels and begins to rely even more heavily on #electricity , it’s going to need more #metals. Many of the #asteroids in our #SolarSystem are chock full of the metals that are needed for the #industries of the future, such as #cobalt, #nickel and #platinum-group metals.
#Astroforge thinks it can support #mining missions with over 80% margins https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2023/10/18/this-asteroid-mining-startup-is-ready-to-launch-the-first-ever-commercial-deep-space-mission/

The #mining industry estimates that producing one kilogram of #platinum on #Earth releases around 40,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide.
Platinum mined from an #asteroid would release some 150 kilograms of #CO2 into Earth’s atmosphere. Large asteroid-mining operations could lower this to about 60 kilograms of CO2 per kilogram of platinum. https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/10/19/139664/asteroid-mining-might-actually-be-better-for-the-environment/

Mining just the top 10 most cost-effective #asteroids - that is, those that are both closest to #Earth and greatest in value - would produce a profit of around US$1.5 trillion https://hir.harvard.edu/economics-of-the-stars

@SkipHuffman would have to be done by #SpaceRobot with #SBSP (and probably #3dPrinted parts). If #AsteroidMining were already developed, material would also be available. AFAIK the reactor needs a minimum size, so an experiment aboard a #SpaceStation wouldn't be an option. Outside the bots would have the advantage they don't need a #Spacesuit, oxygen or sleep

#AdAstra Winter 2008 The #AsteroidThreat is a vast resource in disguise. The shared features of systems-level hardware between #AsteroidMining and planetary defense are many https://nss.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ad-Astra-Magazine-2008-Threat-Of-Impact.pdf

#Reuters August 11, 2023 #Helium3 is an isotope of helium that is rare on earth, but #NASA says there are estimates of a million tonnes of it on the #moon . This isotope could provide nuclear energy in a fusion reactor but since it is not radioactive it would not produce dangerous waste.
#RareEarthMetals - used in #smartphones , #computers and advanced technologies - are present on the moon , including scandium, yttrium and the 15 lanthanides https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/moon-mining-why-major-powers-are-eyeing-lunar-gold-rush-2023-08-11

Picture : #BuzzAldrin speaking with NASA's Rob Mueller about the lunar/martian/asteroid mining #robot #RASSOR https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rob_Mueller_and_Buzz_Aldrin_with_RASSOR.jpg