In an effort to mine precious metals potentially worth trillions of dollars and aid interstellar travel, China has unveiled plans to build a base on an asteroid, likely to happen "in the near future."
Ye Peijian, the Chief Commander and Chief Designer of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, revealed details that could potentially put an umanned craft on an asteroid and mine the rock for metals like palladium, platinum and others that are used in items such as smartphones and automobiles.
“In the near future, we will study ways to send robots or astronauts to mine suitable asteroids and transport the resources back to Earth,” Peijian said in comments captured by China Daily.
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