Plans to start extracting the Moon starting in 2025 became more attractive this week after a team from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) found evidence that Earth’s natural satellite it could, under its surface, be richer in metals than previously thought.
Using data from the miniature radio frequency (Mini-RF) instrument aboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a team of researchers concluded that the lunar subsoil contains a higher concentration of certain metals, such as iron. and titanium, than estimated.
Evidence was discovered as scientists searched for ice at the bottom of craters in the north pole lunar region
The study, published in the journal. Letters of Earth and Planetary Science, upholds the most popular theory surrounding the Moon’s origins. The hypothesis holds that the satellite was formed when an object the size of Mars collided with Earth, vaporizing large portions of Earth’s upper crust.
“By improving our understanding of how much metal the moon’s subsoil actually has, scientists can limit ambiguities about how it has formed, how it is evolving, and how it is helping to maintain livability on Earth,” said the study’s lead author. , Essam Heggy. statement.
The evidence was uncovered while scientists searched for ice at the bottom of craters in the lunar north pole region, NASA said. It means that the fine dust at the base of those holes are parts of the Moon’s deepest layers, ejected during meteorite impacts. As such, this dust represents the Moon’s deepest layered composition.
The researchers found a pattern in which the largest and deepest craters have higher metal concentrations than the smallest and shallowest. Specifically, in craters approximately 1 to 3 miles wide, the dielectric constant or electrical property increased along with the size of the crater. However, electrical ownership remained constant for craters three to 12 miles wide.
Order mine
United States President Donald Trump signed an order in April to encourage citizens to extract the Moon and other celestial bodies for commercial purposes.
The directive classifies outer space as a “legally and physically unique domain of human activity” rather than a “global common good,” paving the way for moonlighting without any international treaty.
“Americans should have the right to participate in the commercial exploration, recovery and use of resources in outer space,” the document said, noting that the United States had never signed a 1979 agreement known as the Moon Treaty. This agreement stipulates that any activity in the space must comply with international law.
The Russian space agency Roscosmos quickly condemned the Trump movement, comparing it to colonialism.
“There have already been examples in history when a country decided to start seizing the territories in its interest, everyone remembers what happened,” said Roscosmos deputy director general for international cooperation Sergey Saveliev.
The proposed global legal framework for mining on the moon, called the Artemis Accords, would be the latest effort to attract allies to the National Space Agency (NASA) plan to place humans and space stations in the celestial body in the next decade.
It also aligns with various public and private initiatives to meet the goal of extracting resources from asteroids, the moon, and even other planets.
In 2015, the US Congress passed a bill that explicitly allows businesses and citizens to exploit, sell, and possess any space material.
That legislation included a very important clause, which stated that it did not grant “sovereignty or sovereign or exclusive rights or jurisdiction over, or the property of, any celestial body”.
The section ratified the Outer Space Treaty, signed in 1966 by the United States, Russia, and other countries, which states that nations cannot possess territory in space.
Trump has taken a constant interest in asserting American power beyond Earth, forming the Space Force within the U.S. military last year to carry out the space war.
The country’s space agency NASA had previously outlined its long-term approach to lunar exploration, which includes creating a “base camp” at the moon’s south pole.
Trillion dollar market
The United States is not the first or the only nation to get on the lunar mining train.
Russia has been following plans in recent years to return to the moon, possibly traveling further into outer space.
Roscosmos revealed in 2018 plans to establish a long-term base on the moon for the next two decades, while President Vladimir Putin promised to launch a mission to Mars “very soon.”
Luxembourg, one of the first countries to set eyes on the possibility of extracting celestial bodies, created a Space Agency (LSA) in 2018 to boost the exploration and commercial use of Near Earth Objects resources.
Unlike NASA, LSA does not conduct investigations or launches. Its goal is to accelerate collaborations between space sector economic project leaders, investors and other partners.
Thanks to the emerging European network, scientists last year announced plans to start extracting resources from the moon in five years.
The mission, led by the European Space Agency in association with ArianeGroup, plans to extract nuclear energy free of debris believed to be worth billions of dollars.
Both China and India have also come up with ideas for removing Helium-3 from Earth’s natural satellite. Beijing has already landed on the moon twice in the 21st century, with more missions to follow.
In Canada, most of the initiatives come from the private sector. One of the most touted was Northern Ontario-based Deltion Innovations’ partnership with Moon Express, the first American private space exploration firm to receive government permission to travel beyond Earth orbit.
Space companies in the works include plans to mine asteroids, track space debris, build the first human settlement on Mars, and billionaire Elon Musk’s own plan for an unmanned mission to the red planet.
Geologists, as well as startups such as Planetary Resources, a pioneer in the space mining industry, believe that asteroids are filled with iron ore, nickel, and precious metals in much higher concentrations than those found in the Earth, which constitutes a market valued in the billions.
