NASA will send a test drill into space with plans to excavate lunar soil and set up a processing plant on the lunar surface. NASA’s Johnson Space rocket scientist Gerald Sanders said we are trying to understand the resources to invest in the excavation phase. We are trying to mitigate risk so that outside investment makes sense which can lead to growth and production.
The Aim Is To Increase Commercial Opportunities In Space
Rocket scientist Gerald Sanders said that one of the objectives of this mission is also to advance commercial opportunities in space. Gerald Sanders further stated that the agency is looking to quantify potential resources, including energy, water and lunar soil, as targets to attract commercial investment. Sanders said that to provide resources on the moon, a circular economy must be developed and cut costs.
There Will Be An Effort To Extract Oxygen From Lunar Resources
Samuel Webster, assistant director of the Australian Space Agency, said that his country’s space agency is developing a semi-autonomous rover. This leads to plans to take regolith samples on a NASA mission in early 2026. There will be an attempt to extract oxygen from lunar resources.
