Monday, August 3, 2026
Science

Asteroid 2022 OB5 spins too fast for current prospectors, highlighting the divide between 'accessible' and 'exploitable'

Asteroid mining seems simple in theory. A spacecraft flies up to a giant rock in space, scoops out some material, and either processes it on site or returns it back to a huge central processing facility. But in practice, it is certainly not that simple, and a new paper from some Spanish researchers,...

Asteroid 2022 OB5 spins too fast for current prospectors, highlighting the divide between 'accessible' and 'exploitable'
Image: Phys.org
Asteroid mining seems simple in theory. A spacecraft flies up to a giant rock in space, scoops out some material, and either processes it on site or returns it back to a huge central processing facility. But in practice, it is certainly not that simple, and a new paper from some Spanish researchers, published in the journal Icarus, showcases one of the reasons why—many small asteroids are spinning ridiculously fast.

Originally published at Phys.org

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