Space stations of the future may be built inside distant asteroids, scientists claim.
One team of researchers found it would be possible to bore into the middle of a distant space rock, erect a space station and mine valuable minerals from within.
They proved it would be mathematically possible, with the right asteroid, to put a cylindrical space station inside a rock several hundred feet wide.
Experts say the logistical possibilities of this concept remains an issue and that it is at least several decades away from becoming a reality.
Some scientists rebuffed the research and claim not enough is known about the physical composition of asteroids to guarantee building a space station inside a huge rock would not cause it to fragment and break apart.
Thomas Maindl, from the University of Vienna in Austria, says there are two main benefits to the plan; it would allow the space station to avoid damage from radiation as well as enabling mining to take place.
‘If we find an asteroid that’s stable enough, we might not need these aluminium walls or anything, you might just be able to use the entire asteroid as a space station,’ Dr Maindl told New Scientist.
Visualisations of the potential project have not been created and it may look like anything from a simple cavern to a complex spacecraft similar to the International Space Station.
An asteroid would need to be made of solid stone and spin one to three times a minute to provide enough gravity for the project to be successful.
If this was possible, it would create gravity similar to that of the Martian surface with approximately 38 per cent of the gravity on Earth.
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