As man moves out into space - one of the goals will be to find natural resources on other planets and satellites. We look to Mars or the Moon as the perhaps the best places to find many of them.
2023 - Plans to return to the Moon are in place by several countries and private companies - with more to join the race to space.
Mining the moon ... The Moon bears substantial natural resources which could be exploited in the future. Potential lunar resources may encompass processable materials such as volatiles and minerals, along with geologic structures such as lava tubes that, together, might enable lunar habitation. The use of resources on the Moon may provide a means of reducing the cost and risk of lunar exploration and beyond. Insights about lunar resources gained from orbit and sample-return missions have greatly enhanced the understanding of the potential for in situ resource utilization (ISRU) at the Moon, but that knowledge is not yet sufficient to fully justify the commitment of large financial resources to implement an ISRU-based campaign. The determination of resource availability will drive the selection of sites for human settlement. Continue reading
The pace is quickening for using Earth's moon as a near-term, go-to location to land on, live and explore. As NASA's Artemis Program moves forward, so too do long-term plans by small and large firms, academia, along with international space agencies. That was in evidence at the twenty-third meeting of the Space Resources Roundtable, held here last month at the Colorado School of Mines. A record attendance of some 250 participants spoke on lunar economic models, results of in-the-lab tests, and legal and policy issues. A number of entrepreneurial groups shared their strategies to turn the moon into a hustle and bustle world of marketable services.
Lunar mining occurs today by privately owned companies and the US government. People who study UFOlogy often wonder why we haven't returned to the moon since 1972. Are there coverups about what's on the moon that link to evidence of extraterrestrials?