Category Archives: Moon Mining

Tuesday / 2 Mar 2021

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Magnetic Levitation Moon Railway Concept Being Studied For Feasibility

Transport Of Cargo, Raw Materials And People Across The Lunar Landscape Will Be Vital Aspect Of Moon Base Build-out Logistics In Coming Years, Necessitating Efficient Ground Transport; Flexible Levitation On A Track (FLOAT) Has Received Phase 1 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Funding For 9 Month, Up To US$125K Preliminary Study; Principal Investigator Ethan Schaler Of JPL Projects FLOAT System Capacity >100,000kg With Energy Requirement <40kW Over Multiple-Kilometer Scale Via Deployable Graphite / Flexible Circuit Track Utilizing Diamagnetic Force; Moon Rail Proposed In Early 20th Century By Lunar Visionaries

Credits: NASA, Ethan Schaler

Tuesday / 9 Feb 2021

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Lunar Manufacturing Capability To Be Advanced By Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency 

DARPA (Budget ~US3.5B) To Host Proposers Day Webcast 26 February, 13:00-16:00 (EST), Orienting Potential Applicants In Anticipation Of Broad Agency Announcement On Novel Orbital And Moon Manufacturing, Materials And Mass-Efficient Design Program; Initiative Seeks To Apply DARPA (Formerly ARPA, Founded In Response To Sputnik-1) Ethos Of “Explicitly Reaching For Transformational Change” To Lunar Surface And In-Space Construction; Three 18-Month Phases Will Focus On 1-MW Solar Array Materials / Design Proof Of Concept (Phase 1); 100m-Diameter RF Reflector (Phase 2); Long-Wave Infrared Telescope (Phase 3)

Credits: DARPA, Pictured: Acting Director Peter Highnam (L), Defense Sciences Office Program Manager Bill Carter (R)

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 4-7 Dec 2020

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NASA Advances Icy Lunar Regolith Excavation, Lava Tube Mapping & Earth-Moon Commerce

Systems Of Moon Excavation Are Focus Of Break The Ice Lunar Challenge, A Centennial Challenge Directed By KSC And MSFC With US$500k Phase 1 Funds, $4.5M Allocated To Phase 2; NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Phase 3 Sponsored R&D Led By William ‘Red’ Whittaker On 15-kg / 1-Lunar Day Lifespan PitRanger Mini Rover Designed To Create HD Images Of Lava Tube Interiors Via Aggregation; With Intentions Of Stimulating Cislunar Economy, Masten, Lunar Outpost, ispace Europe & Japan Win Bids To Transport / Sell Moon Samples

Credits: NASA, William Whittaker / PitRanger team, Masten Space Systems, ESA

Tuesday / 1 Dec 2020

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Lunar Oxygen Extraction Technique Advances With Public-Private Partnership In UK

Oxygen, Key Element For Sustaining Human Life And Powerful Source Of Propulsion Fuel, May Be Refined From Moon Regolith Using ISRU Version Of Electrolysis Process Currently Employed In Earth Mining; ESA Contracted Rotherham-Based Metalysis To Develop Method Tailored For Lunar Surface; Composition Of Regolith Estimated 45% Oxygen By Weight; Process Requires 950°C Molten Salt Bath; Iron, Titanium Extraction Byproducts Useful For 3D Printed Construction; ESA Materials Engineer Advenit Makaya, Project Lead, Indicates Extraction Technology Demonstration Is Oxygen Plant Precursor

Credits: ESA, Metalysis, MIT / Kennedy Space Center

Thanksgiving Weekend Edition
Wed-Mon / 25-30 Nov 2020

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Proactive Measures On Property Rights Needed To Achieve Harmonious Lunar Development

Thought Leaders At Center For Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, King’s College London And Missouri University Of Science & Technology Urge Serious Consideration Of Finite Materials (Water, Helium, Iron) And Locations (Peaks Of Eternal Light, Cold Traps, Level Building Sites) On Moon; Artemis Accords And Outer Space Treaty Need To Be Enhanced With Clear Guiding Principles Such As Those Set Forth By Moon Village Association To Avoid “Diverse Actors Pursuing Incompatible Ends” Vying For Areas “Both Few And Small” With Unfavorable Outcomes

 

Credits: NASA, SETI

Friday / 2 Oct 2020

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‘Watts On The Moon’ Contestants Conceptualize Lunar Power Management Solutions

Latest NASA Centennial Challenge Phase 1 Runs 25 Sep To 25 March 2021; Seeks Original, Innovative Plans To Store / Distribute Thermal And Electrical Energy From Hypothetical 10kW Power Plant Located Outside Of Permanently Shadowed Region (PSR) To Resource Extraction Worksites: Regolith And Water Collectors Inside PSR, Oxygen Plant In Lit Region; Competition Offers Up To US$500K For First Phase – $100K Per Each Of 3 Mission Areas With 4 Prizes Of $50K For Runners-Up; $4.5M Prize Purse For Second Phase Starting June 2021

Credits: NASA, ESA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 11-14 Sep 2020

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Who Owns The Moon?

Administrator Bridenstine Says In Order “To Stimulate And Normalize The Extraction And Sale Of Lunar Resources” NASA Will Pay US$15,000-$25,000 For In-Situ Collection / Cataloguing 50-500g Of Material; USA Moon Expert Clive Neal Declares Action A “Paradigm Shift”; Canada, Russia Leaders And Scholars Expressing Concerns, As Are Europe Officials, Moon Village Association; Asia Spacefaring Powers India, China, Japan Have Yet To Comment On Possible Egalitarian Considerations And Solutions; China Chang’e-5 Moon Sample Return Mission Late 2020 Readies Attempt To Mine Up To 2kg Of Regolith, Return To Earth, Long Before Any American Or Other Moon Lander Is Expected To Touch Down

Credits: NASA, UND /  Washington Post

Friday / 10 July 2020

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NASA Supports Advanced Lunar Resource Extraction / Exploration Technologies With ~US$17M

4 Enterprises Nurtured By Phase 1 & 2 SBIR/STTR Grants Chosen To Further Refine Technologies Deemed Vital For Artemis Mission Success: Informatic Health And Spacecraft Diagnostics Systems By Qualtech Systems (CT), Regolith Refining Machinery For ISRU By Pioneer Astronautics (CO), Protoinnovations (PA) Tasked With Rover Traction Control, Fibertek (VA) To Develop Cis-Lunar Laser Communication; Post-Phase 2 Awards Range $2.5M – $5M, Designed As Final Stage Of Incubation Prior To Commercialization; Administrator Bridenstine Seeks $25.2B Appropriation From Congress To Fund Agency

Credits: NASA, Qualtech , Pioneer Astronautics, Protoinnovations, Fibertek

Friday / 1 May 2020

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USA Declaration Of Intent To Mine Moon Generates Interest Among Earthbound Industry

Executive Order Signed 6 April Prompts Consideration Of Imminent Lunar In-Situ Resource Utilization And Recovery As CNSA Chang’e-5 Mission To Collect 2.2 kg Of Regolith Approaches; Terrestrial Mining Powers Such As Canada, Rich In Both Natural Resources And Human Expertise, Recipient Of World-Leading US$7.9B Annual Investment In Mineral Extraction, Will Play Vital Role In Adaptation Of Remote Mining Technology To Moon Conditions; CSA Distributes $150M Through Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program (LEAP), Fostering Lunar Geology Science

Credits: TransAstra Corp, Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science, NASA, JPL, Caltech, GSFC, Roscosmos, SVS

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 24-27 Apr 2020

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NASA Seeks To Establish Roster Of Lunar Science Concepts For Payloads, Research Investigations On Surface Of Moon

PRISM Stage-1 RFI Outreach To Scientists Open 10 April – 11 May; Mission Ideas Generated Are To Be Catalogued By NASA For Potential Development In Collaboration With Commercial Partners; PRISM Stage-2 Expected Summer 2020 Will Influence Future Landing Sites; CLPS Awardees Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, Masten Slated For 2021-2022 Payload Delivery To Moon Surface, Followed By JSC-Made VIPER In 2023 And Artemis III Human Landings in 2024 Via SLS, Orion And TBD Lander Assisted By Scaled-Down Gateway; Plans Call For Artemis Base Camp Near Lunar South Pole, Widely Considered Most Likely Area For Prospecting Success

Credits: NASA, SpaceX, Intuitive Machines