From ExtremeTech:
ESA Wants to Start Mining the Moon by 2025
*One measure of the value that was tossed around back when the U.S. was still flying the Space Shuttles was that a shuttle's cargo bay full of He-3 would have the energy equivalent of 1 billion barrels of oil.Humans haven’t set foot on the moon in decades, but that could change soon. The first step in that process is to learn more about so-called “in-situ” resource management. Mining materials on the moon could aid future manned missions, and the European Space Agency (ESA) aims to begin testing mining technologies on the moon with a 2025 robotic mission.The ESA has signed a contract with ArianeGroup to launch the mission, which is still in the early planning stages. The company is currently developing a next-generation heavy-lift rocket called the Ariane 6. A four-engine variant of that rocket will have enough power to reach the moon with substantial payloads. ArianeGroup plans to launch this vehicle for the first time next year. The proposed ESA launches would start before the 2025 mining mission gets underway.The unmanned mission will investigate what resources we can expect to extract from lunar regolith. Almost none of the moon’s surface is exposed — the dusty regolith covers the surface to a depth of about 12 feet (3.65 meters) with the exception for the odd lava tube or crater wall. In some areas, it can be up to 16 feet (about 5 meters) thick.Scientists hope that regolith will serve as a source of building material and water. Water is useful not only for keeping astronauts alive (both for drinking and breathable oxygen) but for manufacturing rocket fuel on the moon. We know there are places on the surface with water ice deposits, but it would be much easier if we could just get ice from scooping up regolith.It’s not as simple as feeding lunar soil into a machine and waiting for useful materials to come out....MORE
