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by swayvil 952 days ago
what is this particular asteroid made of? Iron?

Nevermind. It's a C-type asteroid.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-type_asteroid

A chunk of coal mixed with pebbles

1 comments

Just one example:

If you want to go anywhere in space with chemical propulsion, most of your mass will likely be oxygen. For example oxygen-hydrogen rockets often have 6:1 mass ratio of oxygen to hydrogen. SpaceX Raptor has 3.6:1.

Having a low delta vee source of oxygen is potentially extremely valuable.

Hydrocarbons and water also are very useful.