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Washington (AFP)
US space agency NASA on Thursday awarded four companies contracts to collect lunar samples for between $ 1 and $ 15,000, with rock-bottom prices intended to set a precedent for future exploitation of space resources by the private sector. .
“I think it’s pretty amazing that we can buy lunar regolith from four companies for a total of $ 25,001,” said Phil McAlister, director of NASA’s commercial spaceflight division.
Contracts are with Lunar Outpost of Golden, Colorado for $ 1; ispace Japan from Tokyo for $ 5,000; ispace Europe of Luxembourg for 5,000 dollars; and Masten Space Systems of Mojave, Calif. for $ 15,000.
The companies plan to collect during unmanned missions already scheduled to the Moon in 2022 and 2023.
Companies are to collect a small amount of lunar soil known as the regolith of the moon and provide images to NASA of the collection and collected material.
Ownership of the lunar soil will then be transferred to NASA and it will become “the exclusive property of NASA for use by the agency under the Artemis program”.
As part of the Artemis program, NASA plans to land a man and a woman on the moon by 2024 and lay the groundwork for sustainable exploration and a possible mission to Mars.
“The precedent is a very important part of what we do today,” said Mike Gold, acting NASA associate administrator for international and interagency relations.
“We think it’s very important to set the precedent that private sector entities can mine, can use these resources, but NASA can buy them and use them to fuel not only the business of NASA, but a whole dynamic new era of public and private development and exploration on the Moon, ”says Gold.
“We have to learn how to produce our own water, air and even fuel,” he said. “Living off the land will allow for ambitious exploration activities that will result in impressive science and unprecedented discoveries.”
All the lessons learned on the Moon would be crucial for a possible mission to Mars.
“The human mission to Mars will be even more demanding and challenging than our lunar operations, which is why it is so critical to learn from our experiences on the Moon and apply those lessons to Mars,” Gold said.
“We want to demonstrate explicitly that you can extract, use resources and that we will conduct these activities in full compliance with the Outer Space Treaty,” he said. “It is the precedent that is important. It is important that America be a leader, not just in technology, but in politics.”
The United States seeks to set a precedent as there is currently no international consensus on property rights in space and China and Russia have not reached an agreement with the United States on the matter .
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty is vague, but it believes that outer space “is not subject to national ownership by claim of sovereignty, through use or l ‘occupation, or by any other means “.
© 2020 AFP
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