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Unlocking the solar system with water from asteroids
(Journal Nature) Ceres, a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt, is spewing water vapor out into space. In fact, Ceres might hold more water than Earth does.
Over the next 2 years, NASA's Dawn mission, which has already visited big asteroids such as Vesta, will arrive at Ceres to map the dwarf planet's surface. And the ESA's (European Space Agency) Rosetta mission, which just emerged from hibernation, will chase a comet as it approaches the sun. While the two missions have different objectives, both have the potential to tell us more about where all the water in our solar system came from.
The discovery of water vapor on Ceres means that planetary scientists have another destination for possible astrobiology-based missions to seek out new life. “It clearly puts Ceres in the same category as Europa and Enceladus as candidates for life,” Raymond say.
Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries are two companies that want to mine the asteroids. However, they are looking at smaller asteroids in orbits closer to the Earth.
Planetary Resources describes how water from asteroids will unlock the solar system
There are over 1,500 asteroids that are as easy to get to as the surface of the Moon. They are also in Earth-like orbits with small gravity fields, making them easier to approach and depart.
Source: http://nextbigfuture.com/2014/01/unlocking-solar-system-with-water-from.html
