Asteroid mining has moved from science fiction pitch decks into serious technical studies, but the gap between concept and commercial reality remains wide. A new wave of research is trying to quantify ...

Space mining often sounds like a fast route to endless metals. In practice, the first question is simple: what are small ...

The main goal of a newly announced private space telescope may be protecting Earth, but the instrument could also help out prospective asteroid miners, its builders say. The nonprofit B612 ...

Much remains to be known about the chemical composition of small asteroids. Their potential to harbor valuable metals, materials from the early solar system, and the possibility of obtaining a ...

(CNN) — Asteroids contain large quantities of both precious and common metals, and despite the obvious challenges in reaching them, a few startups say these celestial bodies could offer a sustainable ...

Scientists are digging into the hidden makeup of carbon-rich asteroids to see whether they could one day fuel space exploration—or even be mined for valuable resources. By analyzing rare meteorites ...

Science fiction dreams of mining riches from asteroids only make sense if humans can make it worth their time and effort. The new Planetary Resources group backed by Silicon Valley billionaires and ...

X-ray scans reveal rare chemical signatures in asteroid grains that hint at water, organics and the building blocks of life. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate ...

We realize there's only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cell phone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why every day The ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Meteorite chemistry shows which primitive asteroids may hold usable metals or water, and why most space mining remains difficult. ...