Is NASA Mining Asteroids ?

As of my last knowledge update in September 2021, NASA had plans and ongoing research related to asteroid mining but had not yet initiated any active asteroid mining operations. Asteroid mining refers to the concept of extracting valuable resources, such as minerals, water, and precious metals, from asteroids in space.Show more

Here's a general description of NASA's involvement and plans related to asteroid mining up to that point:

Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM): NASA had previously considered the Asteroid Redirect Mission, which aimed to capture a small asteroid and place it in orbit around the Moon. While the primary goal of this mission was not mining but rather testing asteroid deflection techniques and exploring asteroids as potential targets for future human missions, it did involve close proximity to an asteroid.

Resource Prospector Mission: NASA had also been developing the Resource Prospector mission, which was intended to send a rover to the Moon's south pole to prospect for water and other resources. While not asteroid mining, this mission focused on resource utilization in space, which is a related concept.

Near-Earth Asteroid Exploration: NASA had been involved in missions like OSIRIS-REx (which successfully collected samples from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu) and the upcoming mission, Lucy (to study Trojan asteroids), which were focused on understanding asteroid composition and origins.