Aiden Gray
The work I did was "Where are these asteroids" on Page 2, "Primary Challenges" on Page 5, and "Cost vs Potential returns" on Page 5, as well as the videos presented on page 4. This was the conclusion I wrote after finishing all my research on this topic. "Asteroid mining is a demanding and expensive industry. The proximity of NEOs offers a feasible starting point, but there will need to be a big investment in technology and infrastructure for that to happen. The potential high returns give it a promising future and can hold a great position as one of the greatest advancements in space exploration and resource utilization." I enjoyed this project and I had a lot of fun researching my own topic that I had an interest in. I was able to dive into detailed sources, gather evidence to present, and learn more about astronomy from outside of the class.
Ian Sunbury
My work consisted of all the sections on page 2 except for "Where are these asteroids", and page 3 on the leaders in Asteroid Mining. Through completing this project, a key takeaway I learned about the process of scientific discovery is how much trial and error is involved. After reading Gialich and Acain's progress updates on the AstroForge Website, I got insight on how meticulous scientists must be in their work, and how many failures occur prior to a success. This gave me great insight into the minds of scientists who are developing cutting edge technology, and how they are able to maintain optimism in the face of adversity.
With regards to content takeaways, I learned the basics of the incredibly exciting yet long shot of asteroid mining. This allowed me to further explore and learn about asteroids, their composition, location, classification, and size, beyond that of the scope of this class. I enjoyed learning more about these celestial beings, most of which are very small, yet could be incredibly lucrative if able to be extracted.