Space Apps
Back to Projects

Asteroid-Buster Swarm

Global Nominee

Asteroid-Buster Swarm received a Global Nomination.

THE CHALLENGE: Asteroid Mining
Solar System

Develop an approach for characterizing the composition of asteroid for mining potential and a process for mining different compositions. Explore a possible division of labor involving different types of vehicles (e.g. sensor units, drilling units, power gathering and distribution, extracted resources handling and transferring). Consider solutions for moving said asteroids between different orbits and/or consequently make periodical adjustments to keep them in place. Analyze how your idea would cope in some of the given scenarios or outline a scheme of your own.

Explanation

We are Broken Jaw Labs,and we are solving the Asteroid Mining Challenge.

In order to solve the Challenge, we propose an approach that follows three stages:

  • Stage One, DISCOVERY and PROSPECTION
  • Stage Two, MODEL AND MAPPING
    ROBOTS LOGISTICS
    GATHERING
  • Stage Three, SAFE RETURN

Asteroid mining could be a profitable industry in the near future, therefore the prospecting stage becomes more and more relevant. The population of near-Earth objects (NEOs) is huge, with some 20,000 NEOs larger than 100m diameter and vastly smaller ones.

Our approach will only contemplate those that can be mined in a near future being the mineral content of an asteroid the most important property to be determined. Other properties are also critical to determine such as the cost of the mission and the potential profits; of course, a good economic analysis will cover this topics.


In the Discovery and prospection stage, our approach is to determine if a NEO asteroid is profitable using remote sensing techniques:

  • Spectroscopic characterization, obtaining hyperspectral images, displaying wave lengths between 0,4 - 0,9 um. With machine learning techniques, the surface can be sorted by his mineral composition.

With this data, only few asteroids will be selected to make further characterization,

  • A Local characterization is made by sending a little satellite embedded with prospecting sensors, in a close orbit to make accurate composition analysis.


The second stage considers Sampling and Mining Points selection, Profitable Asteroids, are selected as candidates where non-tripulated mining missions will be sent.


Two types of robots are sent in this mission: the extractor and the worker. The extractor is a static unit that allows us to extract mineral and gives communication coverage, although a mixed unit is highly recommended in order to save resources.

  • All the extractor units are positioned using the maps that were obtained in the previous stages. Processing all the information, we isolate the areas where the mineral is most available and we obtain Voronoi partitions to optimize the coverage of the communication and the extraction sites.
  • The worker is a special unit, with adaptive-gravity motion capability, that will gather all the mineral, these units are specialized designed to move along asteroids where microgravity is prevailing


With the data obtained in the previous phases, we are able to make a detailed potential field to command the motion of the units in a dynamic way.


The third stage is the Safe Return that proposes the shipment of all the gathered mineral

When all the mineral is collected, we propose to send all the mineral to the moon with a space slingshot, in a ceramic package. These approach is feasible due to the low gravity, and the low escape velocity for an object in the asteroid. A trajectory must be designed in order to avoid potential obstacles.

For more information, please visit our website:

http://broken-jaw-labs.github.io/AsteroidBusterSwa...

Resources Used
Made inLa Paz Bolivia
from the minds of
How they did it