NASA astronomers have identified a group of large asteroids located between Mars and Jupiter that are brimming with water. The discovery was made by scientists using the infrared capabilities of NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) telescope to analyze the thermal emission from these dark asteroids, which are also known as “main-belt comets.”
The research team found that this particular group of main belt comets was similar in composition to Ceres, a dwarf planet located in the asteroid belt. In addition to being composed largely of rock and ice, they discovered that these objects contain significant amounts of water trapped within their icy mantles. This means there is potentially more than enough water for human exploration missions beyond Earth’s orbit if it can be harvested from nearby sources like these dark asteroids.
These findings could open up new possibilities for deep space exploration since astronauts would no longer need to rely solely on supplies brought from Earth or resources mined on other planets or moons during long-duration missions outside our solar system. With access to local sources like main-belt comets rich in water, future explorers will be able to take advantage of readily available resources while traveling through interstellar space without having to worry about running out of fuel or food before reaching their destination.
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