Today’s Source: https://www.planetary.org/articles/chinas-tianwen-2-mission-has-probably-arrived-at-a-quasi-moon-of-earth (June 24, 2026)
Oddly enough, under the influence of my son (there’s a LONG and fascinating story there about the ASTRONOMICAL advance of his reading skills and interest since first grade…) I found out that HE read THREE BODY PROBLEM by Liu Cixin (as I am interested in words and language, his name is pronounced “lee-oh ts'-uh-sheen” – Or as it reads on the cover of the book (incorrectly, apparently) Cixin Liu). So, I’m reading it now.
At any rate, the race to mine space (not with exploding mines, but taking ores from asteroids and refining it on Earth (or…in space, but I think that’s a DIFFERENT story!) appears to have started:
“Asa Stahl, PhD; Science Editor at The Planetary Society wrote on May 21, 2024: “Earth hosts seven known quasi-moons, an unknown number of minimoons, and maybe, sometimes, two ghost moons. Though none of these pseudo-moons are as big or influential as Earth’s one true natural satellite — the Moon — they are still valuable for science and exploration. Quasi- and minimoons offer promising targets for future space missions, a window into our planet’s neighborhood, and a sampling of the sort of asteroids that could potentially hit Earth.”
He wrote in an article posted June 24, 2026 that, “China’s Tianwen-2 mission has (probably) arrived at a quasi-moon of Earth.” Andrew Jones, also an editor at TPS, notes, “… around July 4, we [should] get the confirmation that, ‘Yes, Tianwen-2 is in its desired orbit, here's an image.’” EDITORIAL SNARK: It is ALMOST certainly sheer coincidence that China will land on a moon (quasi or otherwise) around the 250th Anniversary of the US and “roughly” 57 years after Neil Armstrong, et al landed on the Moon in 1969…
Back to mining! https://fortune.com/2026/07/02/china-private-space-industry-landspace-geely-spacex-rainer-zitelmann/ Fortune magazine reported that “Initially, Chinese policymakers did not take Elon Musk’s company particularly seriously. But as Falcon 9 dramatically lowered launch costs through reusability and SpaceX began dominating global launch markets, attitudes changed. Chinese leaders recognized that they could not rely solely “the government to mine/colonize/pioneer space”. As a result, hundreds of commercial space companies emerged. Many were founded by engineers who previously worked for state-owned aerospace organizations but became frustrated with bureaucracy and slow decision-making. By 2022, China had approximately 430 private space companies. By 2024, the combined value of the country’s 100 largest space firms was estimated at roughly $100 billion.”
CHINA is getting excited about space and mining the asteroids, while WE diddle around, assuming that American dominance in space was a given and we now have more important things to do – like play video games, own more powerful cell phones, and buy more stuff…led by a self-centered billionaire whose sole vision involves remodeling swimming pools and rebuilding extravagant ballrooms…Americans will shortly find themselves farther behind the “unAmerican” powers that we did when Germany invaded Poland and Japan surreptitiously took over the US AFTER the WWII…with manufacturing and technology.
“The United States still enjoys a significant advantage [over China]. Measured against SpaceX alone, the gap remains substantial. But that comparison can be misleading. China has built remarkable depth across the entire industry. In launch services, satellites, communications technologies, and space manufacturing, dozens of Chinese companies are now competing simultaneously.
“The history of Chinese industry reveals a familiar pattern: first imitation, then improvement — and finally innovation. This evolution has already occurred in sectors such as automobiles, batteries, telecommunications, and consumer electronics. There is little reason to assume that space will be different.”
If anyone reading this is planning on being an asteroid miner, I would suggest you make like the Iron Rangers in central Minnesota did at one point in the 1940s, “…due to the diverse immigrant workforce, many spoken interactions in the mines and surrounding communities occurred in Finnish, Slovenian, Croatian, and Italian…” (https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/immigration-iron-range-1880-1930)
“What’s a quasi-moon?” Funny you should ask… https://www.planetary.org/articles/the-quasi-moons-of-earth
Planetary Society article: https://www.planetary.org/articles/the-quasi-moons-of-earth
Foundational Resource: (A general Wikipedia post detailing what the authors currently know about asteroid mining: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_mining)
Noted Resources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asteroid_close_approaches_to_Earth, https://www.pharostribune.com/news/local_news/article_7fcd3ea5-3c14-533f-a8d5-9bf629922f34.html, https://www.fool.com/investing/2022/04/29/like-asteroid-mining-be-careful-what-you-wish-for/, https://www.nps.gov/wrbr/learn/historyculture/theroadtothefirstflight.htm, https://hackaday.com/2019/03/27/extraterrestrial-excavation-digging-holes-on-other-worlds/, https://www.planetary.org/space-missions/every-small-worlds-mission
Interesting Stuff The Might Apply To Mining Asteroids: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgej7gzg8l0o
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