Question

I have heard of a future possibility of mining asteroids for minerals. How would one go about finding asteroids that have important minerals?

Asteroids follow very eccentric orbits around the sun, colliding into each other and producing the meteorites we find on Earth. In order to find asteroids with important minerals and study them, NASA scientists use both fly-by cameras in space and meteorites found on Earth. For more detailed information about meteorites, try http://www.curator.jsc.nasa.gov/antmet/ppr/ppr.htm or http://www-curator.jsc.nasa.gov/antmet/amn/amnfeb00/petdes.htm. As for asteroids themselves, there are several methods of study commonly used by scientists. The main method is the use of fly-by cameras. Infrared spectrometers attached to spacecraft analyze the light reflected off asteroids' surfaces. These readings inform scientists of the asteroids' chemical and mineral compositions, some of which are mainly iron, rocky material melted in their early histories, or carbon. The most recent picture of an asteroid’s surface and composition comes to us from the NEAR spacecraft in a fly-by mission of the asteroid Eros earlier this year. In the future, the Japanese Space Agency takes a new approach by launching their MUSES-C spacecraft in January 2002. It will arrive at asteroid Nereus in May 2003. The spacecraft will carry a tiny NASA rover, the MUSES-CN, which will be dropped off of the spacecraft onto the asteroid to travel across and investigate the surface of the asteroid. See http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/musesc.html for more information.
March 11, 2002