NASA is considering extraterrestrial technology to exploit the moon (and asteroids too!)



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Two distant concepts of NASA could quickly study lunar craters for astronauts and help identify mineral resources on nearby asteroids.

Projects are offered by the Innovative Advanced Concepts Program from NASA, which pursues theoretical ideas that could take many years to materialize. Each project is in the most advanced stage of development that NIAC has offered to date, Phase III, and will receive up to $ 2 million to describe the mission concept, according to NASA. declaration released on Tuesday, June 11th.

"This is the first year that NASA is offering a Phase III opportunity to NIAC, and many strong proposals have been presented," said Jason Derleth, NIAC Program Manager. "We have selected two proposals because we believe both technologies could have a positive impact on the industry.We are delighted that these technological concepts can help humanity explore space in new ways. . "

Related: Venus missions? Interstellar probes? Here are 18 wild Space Space ideas that NASA is studying

The first mission concept, called Skylight, could help support NASA's efforts to send humans back to the moon. The administration of President Donald Trump instructed the agency to landing of humans on the surface again from here 2024, to create a way station for future exploration of Mars.

Skylight, led by William Whittaker, professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon University, aims to help future astronauts working on the moon. Using high resolution close-up images, Skylight would create 3D models of craters. The models would show if it is safe for a human (or a rover) to go down and explore the features.

Artistic representation of the Skylight mission at work, exploring the surface of the moon.

(Image: © William Whittaker, Carnegie Mellon University)

The system could also identify the ice in the shade. This ability is intriguing because future lunar explorers argue that the water on the moon is a precious resource for future settlements and reduce what astronauts need to transport from the Earth.

The other project is called Mini Bee and is led by Joel Sercel, founder and CEO of TransAstra Corp. Mini Bee hopes to develop a way to asteroid mining resources, which are full of water and minerals. The project would extract resources through a method called optical extraction, which would focus sunlight on the asteroid. This process would cause surface wear and any debris generated would be collected in an airbag.

The team hopes to use this process to generate thrusters in space, reducing the need for astronauts to carry fuel for their missions.

The NIAC program plans to fund a phase III study annually in the coming years, NASA said. Each study team has two years of research time to sufficiently refine the concept in order to transfer the idea to industry or government for further development and implementation of the mission.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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