NASA is on the verge of commencing lunar mining activities

What we've often seen in space movies is about to become reality. According to an announcement made by NASA, humankind may initiate excavation operations on the Moon in the near future.

NASA, the American space agency, has recently unveiled preliminary plans to commence lunar mining within the next decade. These plans are part of the larger Artemis space program, which includes ambitious objectives such as returning Americans to the lunar surface by 2025, exploring commercial opportunities in outer space, and identifying potential resources on the Moon.

With three-and-a-half decades of experience at NASA, Gerald Sanders has stated that harnessing resources from our celestial neighbor is an essential step towards reducing costs and creating a circular economy. The initial investment in exploration would serve to assess available resources, thereby mitigating risk and increasing the likelihood of attracting external investors.

In order to jump-start this venture, NASA plans to dispatch a drilling rig to the Moon. Collaborating with the Australian Space Agency, a semi-autonomous rover is being developed to collect samples of regolith, or lunar soil, by 2026. Furthermore, ambitious plans for larger-scale excavation are in the works, which includes a pilot processing plant scheduled to be operational by 2032.

NASA is on the verge of commencing lunar mining activities

According to Samuel Webster, an assistant director at NASA, the rover's primary objective is to confirm the presence of oxygen in the form of oxides within lunar soil. Additional apparatus will be deployed to extract oxygen from the soil, added Webster.

NASA envisages that in the long run, larger corporations, particularly those involved in making commercial rockets, could utilize the lunar resources for fuel and life support systems. Such a development could play a significant role in establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon, aiding future expeditions to Mars and even further afield.

More than fifty years have elapsed since a human last trod on the lunar surface. NASA is determined to change this state of affairs in the near future through its Artemis program, introduced in 2017. A key objective of the program is to land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon by 2025.