NASA to Begin Project to Extract Water from Lunar Iron for Lunar Mission
NASA is preparing for its highly anticipated comeback to the Moon, more than half a century after it successfully landed numerous astronauts there. However, this time, the objective is far more ambitious than simply leaving a mark. The space agency is now aiming to extract valuable resources from the Moon, and intends to initiate this groundbreaking endeavor as early as the upcoming decade.
NASA plans to send a drill to the moon next month as a precursor to establishing large-scale lunar regolith mining by 2032. As The Guardian reports, Gerald Sanders, a scientist at NASA’s Johnston Space Center, revealed the plans while speaking at the World Mining Congress in Brisbane. Sanders emphasized the agency’s goal to assess and quantify the potential resources available on the Moon. He said: “We are trying to invest in the exploration phase, understand the resources… (reduce) the risk so that external investment makes sense that can lead to development and production.”
In 2017, the space agency officially announced the Artemis program, which aims to achieve the historic milestone of landing the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon by 2025.
In the near future, it is planned to place a drilling platform on the Moon to start lunar exploration. The Australian Space Agency is actively involved in this project, collaborating to develop a semi-autonomous rover expected to be operational by 2026 to collect samples of regolith from the lunar surface. As part of wider mining plans, the trial treatment plant is scheduled to start operating in 2032.
NASA Deputy Administrator Samuel Webster stated that the rover’s primary goal is to confirm the presence of oxygen in the lunar soil, especially in the form of oxides. To achieve this, separate equipment is used to remove oxygen from the soil, as Webster noted.
By taking resources such as water, iron, rare metals and possibly helium-3, the agency aims to open up new possibilities for sustainable space travel and energy production.
