MINING THE MOON : WHAT IS THE PAYOFF ?
Photo credit : European Space Agency
The European Space Agency has proposed packing light : it ’ s teaming with Foster + Partners to test the possibility of 3D printing not just the tools , but whole lunar buildings .
“ Lunar resource exploration should be based on the same methods that have guided humans on their centuries-old exploration of terrestrial resources ”
– Angel Abbud-Madrid , Director of the Center for Space Resources
And the world said , ‘ You go to an asteroid ; we ’ re going to the moon ,’” said Clive Neal , a planetary scientist at the University of Notre Dame .
According to Fabrizio Bozzato , a doctoral candidate at the University of Tamkan in Taiwan , China is poised to make lunar mining a reality of tomorrow . “ China maintains its lunar mining would be for the benefit of all humanity ,” Bozzato said . “ However , given the absence of willful competitors , it is also speculated that the Chinese intend to establish a helium 3 monopoly .”
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