Tastes like Stilton!
The agency seeks to portray accurately how humanity could exploit off-Earth assets — a no-nonsense approach that contrasts with the pie-in-the-sky estimates of trillions of dollars of profit proffered by some less scientifically minded space-mining advocates.
IOW, it's probably another anti-US op conducted by Soetero appointees, and the end result of the study will be twofold -- one, that exploitation of off-world resources isn't feasible and can't be profitable, and two, that the US doesn't have any right to do it. Thanks ETL.
Can I get in on the IPO for Asteroid Steel Corporation?
Tastes like Stilton!