Asteroid race

摘要

Once a wacky idea, commercial asteroid exploration has become a race, with the launch of a second company focused on mining near Earth space rocks. As New Scientist went to press, Deep Space Industries of McLean, Virginia, was preparing to announce a "fleet of asteroid-prospecting spacecraft". It said it was "pursuing an aggressive schedule and plans on prospecting, harvesting and processing asteroids for use in space and to benefit Earth".