Asteroid 2022 OB5 spins too fast for current prospectors, highlighting the divide between 'accessible' and 'exploitable'
May 19, 2026
Asteroid mining seems simple in theory. A spacecraft flies up to a giant rock in space, scoops out some material, and either processes it on site or returns it back to a huge central processing facility. But in practice, it is certainly not that simple, and a new paper from some Spanish researchers,
published in the journal Icarus, showcases one of the reasons why—many small asteroids are spinning ridiculously fast. ...read more read less