Surveying the Regolith
Before a single ounce of ore is collected, the mining spacecraft must carefully position itself just meters above the asteroid's treacherous, tumbling surface.
Proximity Flying in Microgravity
Asteroids have irregular shapes and wildly uneven gravitational fields. Navigating close to the surface requires highly advanced autonomous thruster control to maintain a fixed altitude without accidentally crashing into a sudden ridge.
Once stable, the spacecraft extends a wide boom arm containing the unactivated electromagnetic drums. It sweeps across the surface at a slow, deliberate pace, using ground-penetrating radar to map the density of the ferrous (iron-rich) dust beneath it.