We’re going to be on TV!!!
Prof Jamie Gilmour being interviewed by Newsround presenter Leah.
Following the recent announcement about mining asteroids, the BBC’s Newsround visited our labs this morning. They asked us what is it that’s in asteroids that makes them so valuable and whether this project is viable.
Filming in the TOFSIMS lab.
A group of billionaire entrepreneurs want to mine asteroids for precious metals such as gold and platinum, as these rare elements are running out on Earth and are abundant in certain types of asteroids. These elements are vital for electronics and other industries. The team even want to try and get water out of asteroids which can be used to power rockets and aim to build a fuel station in space by 2020! Technologically there’s a long way to go before anything like this is possible, but if it can be made cost-effective it will be a good way of harvesting these rare metals in the future.
And hopefully they will also bring back some asteroid samples for scientific research!
The report will probably be broadcast some time next week. Keep an eye out here, and on our Facebook and Twitter feeds, and we’ll update you as to exactly when as soon as we can.
Jenny being filmed operating RELAX.
Jamie explaining about studying thin sections to presenter Leah and cameraman Jimmy.
The report is now available to watch online on the BBC website.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/17964347