With scientists beginning to more seriously consider constructing bases on celestial bodies such as the moon, the idea of space mining is growing in popularity.
With scientists beginning to more seriously consider constructing bases on celestial bodies such as the moon, the idea of space mining is growing in popularity.
After all, if someone from Los Angeles was moving to New York to build a house, it would be a lot easier to buy the building materials in New York rather than buy them in Los Angeles and lug them 2,800 miles. Considering the distance between Earth and the moon is about 85 times greater, and that getting there requires defying gravity, using the moon's existing resources is an appealing idea.
A University of Arizona team, led by researchers in the College of Engineering, has received $500,000 in NASA funding for a new project to advance space-mining methods that use swarms of autonomous robots. As a Hispanic-Serving Institution, the university was eligible to receive funding through NASA's Minority University Research and Education Project Space Technology Artemis Research Initiative.
Read more at University of Arizona College of Engineering
Image: University of Arizona engineering faculty members Jekan Thanga (right) and Moe Momayez have received $500,000 in NASA funding for a new project to advance space mining methods that use swarms of autonomous robots. They are pictured with a low-cost, rapidly designed, 3D-printed rover prototype used for testing a new generation of miniature sensors for applications in lunar mining. (Credit: Chris Richards / University of Arizona)
