Category Archives: Moon Mining

Friday / 30 Mar 2018

Posted on by

Updates To Outer Space Treaty Could Define Space Regulations

During COPUOS 57th Legal Subcommittee Session 9-20 April At Vienna International Center, Countries To Discuss General Principle Consensus On Space Resource Policy Which May Be Necessary To Enable Moon And Mars Settlements, Potentially Prevent Conflict Of Interest In Space; Vidvuds Beldavs Proposes International Regime Could Govern Moon Resource Extraction Focused On Safety, Sustainability, Equitable Sharing By All Countries; Common Heritage Of Mankind Concept Inclusion To Prevent Exploitation, Encourage Preservation For Future Generations 

Credits: NASA, Space, UN, Vidvuds Beldavs

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 23-26 Mar 2018

Posted on by

ULA Proposes Self-Sustaining Econosphere / CisLunar 1000 Initiative

United Launch Alliance Plans To Collaborate With Commercial Companies To Create Community Of ~1,000 People In Earth-Moon Vicinity; Self-Sufficient Economy Would Be Based On In Situ Resource Utilization From ~17,000 Near Earth Asteroids, Lunar Resources; ULA CEO Tory Bruno Says Creating Propellant In Space Will Increase Deep Space Travel; Roadmap Could Align With International Lunar Gateway, Involve Current Collaborator Bigelow Aerospace For 20-Person Cislunar Habitat & Depot; Jeff Bezos Of Blue Origin Working On Blue Moon Lunar Lander; SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Continues Plans For Rockets To Support Interplanetary / Lunar Transport Services

Credits: NASA, Boeing, Bigelow Aerospace, ULA, SpaceX, Blue Origin, Business Insider

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 15-18 Sep 2017

Posted on by

New Moon Water Distribution Map Points To Lunar Poles As Vital Areas Of Exploration

Brown University Researchers Including Shuai Li (T) And Ralph Milliken Moon Water Study Shows Concentration In Lunar Soil Within Upper Millimeter Of Soil Reaches Average Max Of ~500 To 750 Parts Per Million In Polar Regions, Largely Uniform With Gradual Decrease Toward Equator; Permanently Shadowed Craters & Deeper Soil Not Analyzed; Concentration Fluctuates Over Day – Indicating Water Formation Is Active And “Raises The Possibility That Water May Re-accumulate After Extraction”; Water Is Important For Habitation (Drinking Water, Oxygen) And Transportation (Fuel); Further Analysis Needed Through Detailed Science Missions Preferably With Humans Landing On Moon

Credits: Brown University, LRO, LCROSS, ISRO MMM, GSFC, NASA

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 25-28 Aug 2017

Posted on by

Colorado School Of Mines Announces Plans For First-Ever Space Mining Graduate Program In 2018

Resource Exploration, Extraction and Processing On Moon, Asteroids, Mars And Beyond Is Focus Of New Graduate Level Program To Be Offered In 2018 By Well-Known And Highly Respected Science And Engineering Institution In Golden, CO; First Course “Space Resources Fundamentals” Being Run As Pilot Program In Fall 2017; Director And Research Assoc. Prof. Angel Abbud-Madrid Says Objective Is To Prepare Next Generation Of Engineers To Responsibly Access Natural Resources Of Space Including Water, Gases, Minerals And Metals To Fuel Space Development; ISRU Will Conserve Resources On Earth And Make Space Exploration Safer And More Affordable

Credits: Mines, NASA

Memorial Day / Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 26-29 May 2017

Posted on by

ISDC 2017 Accentuates American
Moon Mission Interests

Breakout Sessions With Lunar Focus At NSS ISDC 25-29 May In St. Louis MO Include Back To The Moon, Space Settlement, Living In Space, Space Business; Madhu Thangavelu, David Schrunk, William Gerstenmaier, Brad Blair, Peter Kokh, Henk Rogers, Dennis Wingo, Ben Bussey, Michael Laine & Others Will Cover All Aspects Of A Human Return To Moon, L1 & L2 Transportation Nodes, International Lunar Decade Declaration, Moon Mining, Lunar Base Planning Underway At NASA & Private Ventures Including Cislunar & Surface Architectures, Deep Space Gateway, SLS / Orion EM-1 Mission & CubeSats; New NASA Administrator May Also Be Announced (Perhaps Jim Bridenstine)

Credits: National Space Society, ISDC, NASA, et al

Weekend Edition
Fri-Tue / 4-8 November 2016

Posted on by

Reclaiming The Moon: America’s Preeminence In Space Starts With The Moon

return-to-moon-campaign-2016

Days Before USA 2016 Presidential Election, Congressman Jim Bridenstine (Rep-OK, Center) Discuses American Space Renaissance Act At LEAG Meeting For National Security, Economic Growth & Leadership, Stating “NASA Should Utilize Somewhere We Have Already Pioneered – The Moon”; Moon Could Provide Resources (Water, Solar Power, Regolith, Helium-3), Testing Ground For Human Solar System Complete Exploration & Settlement; Putting The First Woman On The Moon, Venturing For Science & Observation To Unexplored Moon South Pole, Solidifying Humans As Multi World Species Would Boost Any & Every Nation; Clear Vision Outlined By Incoming 2017 USA Administration From LEO To Moon And Beyond Could Set Up Strategic Path To Human Exploration Of Outer Solar System By End Of Century

Credits: NASA, US.gov, ESA, Foster + Partners

Friday / 12 August 2016

Posted on by

ILDWG Proposes G20 Leaders Discuss Financial Promise Of Developing Moon, Space Economy

ILDWG 2016

International Lunar Decade Working Group Urges Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) To Include Space Development At G20 Summit In Hamburg July 2017 As Innovative, Global Strategy For Building Sustainable, Long Term Future For Humanity; Moon Village Would Include More Nations, Surpass Financial Scope Of ISS; Cislunar Space Infrastructure Could Reduce Costs & Risks Of Operating In Space; Space-Based Resources, Asteroid Mining Would Create Hundreds Of Thousands Of Jobs, Drive Innovation & Discovery, Generate Tools For Earth Climate Change, Planetary Defense

Credit: ILDWG, ESA, NSS, NASA, ISDC, SFF, 5FM, Researchgate, G20

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 29 Jul – 1 Aug 2016

Posted on by

India Technology Vision 2035 Report Recognizes Massive Game-Changing Potential Of Moon, Space Mining

LED-7-29-16

Executive Director of Technology Information, Forecasting And Assessment Council (TIFAC) Prabhat Ranjan Expects Realization Of Extra-Terrestrial Mining Within 10-15 Years; Highlights “Mineral Wealth” Of The Moon And Echoes NASA Estimate Of Main Asteroid Belt Value Of  US$100B Per Person On Earth; References Pending USA Approval Of Moon Express Mission, Notes India Need To Get Going Or Risk Being Left Behind; ISRO Chandrayaan-2 Advancing For 2018 Launch By GLSV-MK2; TIFAC Is Autonomous Organization (Est. 1988) Under Department Of Science & Technology 

Credit: TIFAC, NASA

Thursday / 28 July 2016

Posted on by

Nuclear Power On Moon, Mars, Beyond

LED-7-27-16

SETI Institute Science Colloquium At Microsoft Silicon Valley Campus Features Frank Shu, Professor Emeritus, University Of California Berkeley; Discusses Lunar Base As Wise First Step Toward Humans Colonizing Mars, Traveling To The Stars; Shu Notes Lunar Water Ice Harvesting / Electrolysis To Produce Habitat-Critical Oxygen (& Hydrogen For Fuel) Requires Primary Power Source; Presents Patented Design For Two-Fluid Molten-Salt Breeder-Reactor (2F-MSBR) Using In Situ Thorium; Overlooks Potential For Photo-Voltaic Power At Peaks Of Eternal Light (Areas Of Near-Continuous Illumination) At Moon South Pole

Credit: SETI Institute, UC Berkeley, NASA

Friday / 17 June 2016

Posted on by

13th International Planetary Probe Workshop Highlighting Innovative Ideas For Lunar Exploration

LED-6-16-16

The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Goddard Space Flight Center and NASA Meeting In Laurel, Maryland June 13-17 Features Talks By Alan Stern PI Of New Horizons & Ellen Stofan NASA Chief Scientist; Includes Presentations By Robert Buchwald (TR) Of Airbus On ‘Prospecting And Returning Lunar Surface Samples With Volatiles’ And By Balaji Soundararajan, Masters Student (Space Engineering) at Technical University Berlin On ‘Autonomous UAV for Lunar Inspection’ & ‘Lunar Ballistic Robot Exploration’

Credit: JHU/APL, GSFC, NASA,R. Buchwald, B. Soundararajan,