When we eventually mine asteroids, humans and robots will not leave unprotected microbes on the surface. Instead, machines ...

Using microorganisms to mine meteorites could be an effective way to extract precious metals in space, scientists say. This ...

A fungus aboard the ISS extracted palladium from meteorite rock, hinting at future space mining powered by living microbes.

Most of the time we’re perfectly happy to keep asteroids as far away from us and our planet as possible. Every time one of them decides to show up for an unannounced visit, we get to have a really bad ...

As humanity pushes the boundaries of space exploration, one of the key challenges is how to access resources from distant ...

As witnesses discussed the benefits and challenges of space mining, members of the House Natural Resources Committee debated if they had jurisdiction on the topic. Credit: House Natural Resources ...

Mining water, metals, and oxygen from the Moon and asteroids seems promising, but only if these space-based resources are reasonably accessible. Reading time 8 minutes The new era of space exploration ...

A mineral resources map of a section of the Moon produced by the US Geological Survey with data from NASA and JAXA missions The global race for mining and critical minerals is on. Through their Belt ...

If humankind is to explore deep space, one small passenger should not be left behind: microbes. In fact, it would be impossible to leave them behind, since they live on and in our bodies, surfaces and ...

Space mining evokes images of massive sci-fi starships pulverizing asteroids. While that is still within the realm of science fiction, projects are under way to make commercial space mining one step ...

7-28-14 Update: There they were, at 10,000 feet on the remote and rugged slopes of the Mauna Kea volcano on the big island of Hawaii, running their robot through the same volcanic soil NASA uses to ...

5-23-16 update: Cyclone Space Mining was so close to big mining runs at NASA’s annual robotics competition. But, a broken frame disabled one of the team’s two robots during the team’s first run. Then, ...