NASA is seeking to develop lunar resources that initially include oxygen and water and may eventually expand to iron and rare earths, and has already taken steps to dig up lunar soil by 2032, a scientist said Wednesday.
The US space agency plans to return Americans to the moon as part of its Artemis mission, including the first woman and person of color by 2025, and learn from the mission to make the journey to Mars easier.
Developing business opportunities in space is a key part of the mission. The agency is trying to quantify potential resources, including energy, water and lunar soil, as a target to attract commercial investment, said Gerald Sanders, a rocket scientist at NASA’s Johnston Space Center for 35 years.
Developing access to resources on the moon will be key to lowering costs and developing a circular economy, Sanders said.
“We’re trying to invest in the exploration phase, to understand the resources … to (reduce) the risk so that outside investment makes sense and can lead to development and production,” he told a mining conference in Brisbane.
“We’re literally just scratching the surface,” he said. NASA will send a test drilling rig to the moon at the end of the month and plans a larger excavation of lunar soil, or regolith, and a pilot processing plant for 2032.
The first customers are expected to be commercial rocket companies, which could use the moon’s resources for fuel or oxygen.
The Australian Space Agency is involved in the development of a semi-autonomous rover that will take regolith samples on a NASA mission as early as 2026, said Samuel Webster, the agency’s assistant director.
The rover will demonstrate the collection of lunar soil, which contains oxygen in the form of oxides.
Using a separate device sent to the moon with the rover, NASA will focus on extracting that oxygen, he said.
“It’s a key step in establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon and also (as) support for future missions to Mars,” he told the conference.
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