According to the Telegraph, the Moon’s top layer of soil, also known as regolith, contains a lot of resources including clay, glass fragments, minerals and chemical compounds such as iron oxide.
Being able to exploit resources on the Moon will be an important stepping stone for humans to continue exploring the universe.
Many space agencies now believe that directly exploiting water, oxygen, fuel and other resources on the celestial body they visit instead of having to bring it all with them from Earth is an important step in the process.
And recently the European Space Agency (ESA) officially announced its `ambition`.
The plan targets regolith, or `moon rock`, a material that covers the entire lunar surface and can survive to depths of at least 3.66 m.
Scientists can extract water, oxygen and even rocket fuel from regolith.
Dr David Parker, Director of the Human and Robotic Exploration Unit at ESA commented: `The use of space resources could be the key to sustainable lunar exploration. This research is part of the plan.`
It is known that ESA has signed a long-term contract with rocket manufacturer Ariane Group to build many spacecraft models to bring robots to exploit regolith on the Moon.
Not only that, this agency also plans to build a village on the Moon with construction materials mainly from 3D printers – where not only scientific projects but also businesses can operate on it.
Previously in August 2018, NASA also revealed its plan to explore Mars by 2030. The first step is to build a base or transfer station on the Moon.
Let’s wait for positive signals from ESA and NASA in the near future, hoping that a new era for humans will be opened by being able to exploit and use materials from space.
Source: Daily Mail