There’s going to be a mine on the moon in the future!
NASA has awarded Lunar Outpost a 10 cent check for a space resource contract. In exchange, the Colorado-based space startup will obtain various lunar resources such as lunar dust or regolith, for the agency.
According to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, the space startup will "collect a small amount of moon dust, verify the collection and transfer the ownership of that lunar regolith." The resources are for future space exploration projects. In addition, the collected regolith will play a key role in NASA’s Artemis program. Nelson says that “the ability to extract and use extraterrestrial resources will ensure Artemis operations can be conducted safely and sustainably in support of human exploration."
The lunar resource can be used in the future as a type of cement to build facilities. Another lunar resource, water ice, can be used to create rocket fuel.
Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
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