As company seeks to build AI-powered asteroids, what could go wrong?

In his iconic science fiction novel Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke describes how humanity first mistakes a large inbound spacecraft for an asteroid and then interacts with the mysterious alien ship. The founders of Made in Space, a small company with big dreams of manufacturing materials in space, are clearly fans of the book, because they have named their latest venture Project RAMA. Made in Space's plan seems like science fiction as well: the company wants to turn asteroids into spacecraft. The company is serious--and so, apparently, is NASA. The agency has agreed to pay as much as 100,000 to Made in Space to conduct a feasibility study on the concept.