By 2025, the US space agency hopes to send Americans, especially the very first women and people of color, to the moon.
The moon’s resources will be mined by the American space agency Nasa in the upcoming ten years with the intention of removing the soil by 2032.
With the Artemis mission, NASA hopes to bring Americans again to the moon by 2025, along with the first women and people of color since the landing of the Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972.
Information will be gathered to prepare for what the agency believes will be a subsequent voyage to Mars during that mission, which is intended to further examine the lunar surface.
Information regarding the Artemis project can be found on NASA’s website. “We are going to collaborate with business and international collaborators to establish a first long-term foothold on the moon,” it says.
The lunar surface lacks breathing space in its thin atmosphere, so NASA will first focus on finding ways to create oxygen and water resources there before expanding to mine other minerals like iron. NASA will launch a test drill into orbit later this month with the intention of collecting lunar dirt with the goal of erecting a processing facility by 2032.
Gerald Sanders, a scientist who works with NASA’s Johnson Space Center, said at a mining convention in Brisbane, “We are trying to make investments in the exploration phase, to comprehend the resources,… to [lower] risk such that outside funding becomes sense that could lead to growth and production. Sanders continued, “We are really only touching the surface”
The Artemis project is intended to increase business potential in space, according to scientists. Commercial rocket companies, who will use the moon’s resources as fuel, are anticipated to be among the first users.
According to Space.com, the Artemis project’ second phase will launch in 2024. The first lunar orbit by humans since 1972 will take place when four astronauts are launched on an eight-day mission.
The group of four astronauts who will be taking part in the lunar voyage were announced by NASA in April.
The first woman to ever be deployed on a lunar mission is Christina Koch, the mission specialist for the expedition. Koch already claims the record for for a longest continuous flight in space by a woman due to her engineering background.
The very first Black astronaut to travel to the moon will be Victor Glover, an aviator in the US navy. The pilot of Artemis II will be Glover.
The two remaining members of the crew are mission specialists for Artemis II Jeremy Hansen and mission commander for Artemis II Reid Wiseman. Hansen is the first Canadian to be chosen for a lunar mission.