Skip to content
Mining Asteroids For Science – and Lucrative Metals episode artwork

Feb 8, 2023 34 min

Mining Asteroids For Science – and Lucrative Metals

from Big Take Hosted by Bloomberg and iHeartPodcasts

If you’re a comic book or sci-fi fan, you’ve likely read about the far-off idea of hitching a ride on an asteroid and mining it for precious metals and ice. But it’s not science fiction anymore. In this episode, we’ll take a look at two real-life asteroid-mining missions in the works. Dr. Dante Lauretta, who leads NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission, talks about what they’ve gathered from the Bennu near Earth asteroid, which will arrive back home later this year. We also speak with Matt Gailich, co-founder and CEO of AstroForge–a company sending up two missions this year with the ultimate goal of mining asteroids for platinum and other valuable metals needed for electric cars and other technology. Bloomberg’s space reporter Loren Grush then joins to give a bigger-picture view of other breakthroughs on the horizon in the fast-growing race to space. Learn more: https://bloom.bg/3YaZK32 Listen to The Big Take podcast every weekday and subscribe to our daily newsletter: https://bloom.bg/3F3EJAK Have questions or comments for Wes and the team? Reach us at [email protected].

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

Ready to play

Mining Asteroids For Science – and Lucrative Metals

0:00 34:44

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Frequently asked questions

How long is this episode of Big Take?

This episode is 34 minutes long.

When was this Big Take episode published?

This episode was published on February 8, 2023.

Is there a transcript available for this episode?

Yes, a full transcript is available for this episode. You can read the complete transcript on the episode page.

Can I download this Big Take episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.