Colonizing asteroids

03/04/2024
The reading and the writing are both about colonizing asteroids, while the author
of the reading feels that colonizing asteroids has several benefits, the lecturer
challenges the claims made by the author, he believes that there is no supportive
evidence that indicates that the pursuit of asteroids colonization has some
advantages.

To begin with, the author argues that colonizing asteroids has scientific
potential, that is to say, that it gives a special environment for scientific
research because of their small size, low gravity, and rareness of atmosphere, in
addition, the article mentions that asteroids could help researchers for future
missions to other destination in the solar system. This argument is challenged by
the lecturer, he claims that we lack knowledge about asteroids, and the information
about them is still limited, moreover, he says that we don't know how many
asteroids exist, we don't know about their conditions, even what resources they
contain, it is difficult to predict the scientific benefits of colonizing
asteroids.

Secondly, the writer states the potential for economic development is also another
advantage of colonizing asteroids; due to their natural resources mined, they could
make new industries and provide job opportunities, additionally, it could diminish
the necessity of resource extraction on Earth. In contrast, the lecturer notes that
it's not clear how much of natural resources exist on asteroids, nor how much they
would be worthed when they are transported back to Earth, moreover in the article
it is said that there is no clear information on whether mining asteroids would be
effective cost or it is efficient than getting them from the earth.

Finally, the author posits that asteroids have important signification for the
long-term survival of humanity, they could be a possible refuge for humans in case
of any likely disaster may occur on earth, furthermore in the article it is stated
that they afford useful information related to the origins and the development of
the solar system. The lecturer, however, asserts this by mentioning that asteroids
aren't suitable for humans' long-term survival, because they are small, they don't
have mass, also they generate gravity of the pole. He additionally notes that they
could be a challenge with possible damage to bones and muscles; according to him
living on asteroids is extremely uncomfortable and dangerous.