The Moon: Unlocking New Potential as a Source of Precious Metals and Water for Future Space Missions
Scientists are exploring the possibility of utilizing the Moon as a strategic resource hub that could significantly transform approaches to extracting valuable metals and water for upcoming space explorations.
Recent findings indicate that the lunar surface may harbor substantial reserves of platinum-group metals, including platinum, palladium, and rhodium, as well as water in the form of hydrates.
It is believed that thousands of impact craters on the Moon, including around 6,500 with diameters over one kilometer, could contain these precious metals and water resources.
This discovery positions the Moon as a more promising target for resource extraction than asteroids, which are rare and challenging to access.
The research focused on analyzing impact craters formed by asteroid collisions, assessing their potential to store metal deposits even after thousands of years.
The results suggest that the Moon holds significant promise for future mining activities, with opportunities to harvest up to 6,500 craters that might contain platinum-group metals and about 3,350 craters with water.
Exploiting these lunar resources could pave the way for establishing permanent bases and supporting human presence in space.
Previously, scientists proposed using nuclear explosions to divert an asteroid threatening Earth in 2032.
However, the newfound accessibility of lunar resources offers a more viable and potentially lucrative path for space resource utilization and supporting long-term extraterrestrial missions.