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| The MX-9 Frontier Class Explorer. Courtesy Moon Express |
The first U.S. craft back to the Moon's surface may not be the government's. It may well be a corporate endeavor. Moon Express has been given permission by the U.S. government to land a craft on the Moon. The Space Resources and Utilization Act of 2015 allows private corporations to go out and mine the asteroids and the Moon while still adhering to the Outer Space Treaty of 1967.
NASA cancelled its Resource Prospector project in April of 2018. This is after spending $100 million dollars and over a decade on it and the program it evolved from - RESOLVE. Resource Prospector was a rover with instruments and tools for locating ice and minerals on the Moon. Now NASA has said it wants private industry to not only provide the lunar rover but transportation for it to the Moon and back.
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| The MX-1 Scout Class Explorer. Courtesy Moon Express. |
1. Lunar Scout will be the first commercial voyage to the Moon, delivering about 30 kg of instruments to the lunar surface. This is mainly a proof of design mission.
2. Lunar Outpost is similar to Scout but will head for the southern pole of the moon and prospect for water and minerals.
3. Harvest Moon will send a larger assembly to collect samples and return them to orbit where they will dock with transport back to Earth.
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| Scrapped Lunar rover Resource Prospector - courtesy NASA |
The philosophy of Moon Express is that the Moon is an 8th continent to be explored and surveyed for the possibility of economical benefits to mankind. Known minerals and metals are magnesium, aluminum, silicon, iron, and titanium. Also important are the location and quantification of helium-3 and water ice. These two could easily become the economic foundation for a settlement on the Moon, launching material into orbit for use in space or a trip back to Earth.
Saving the world one plastic bag at a time. Recycling genius.
While SpaceX is talking about sending tourists around the Moon, Moon Express is planning on going back to the surface of the Moon with the ultimate goal of exploiting the Moon for its resources. This could help out Elon’s plans to go to Mars by providing relatively cheap fuel (electrolyzed water into oxygen and hydrogen) that can be used to refuel SpaceX’s Big Falcon Rocket for the journey.
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| Courtesy NASA |
It also fits into plans NASA has for a space station, Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, orbiting the Moon and acting as a depot for deep space craft and headquarters for Moon surface activity. NASA is currently seeking ideas for commercial uses of this lunar orbiting space station. Perhaps as the realization sinks in that it is not just asteroids but the Moon as well that is up for grabs, more companies will come up with ideas on how to carry that out quickly and inexpensively.
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