“I think that we need to start with baby steps, and therefore I think it makes more sense to go after the shallow permanently shadowed regions,” Metzger says. “It makes sense to try to build an architecture that goes after that sort of resource first and tries to make it economically profitable as a first step.”

Mining the moon might’ve once seemed like a sci-fi impossibility, but now the idea is overflowing with potential concepts on how to extract our satellite’s valuable resources. With support from O’Neill acolytes, NASA, and the White House, lunar mining has a chance to seize the moment—and the moon miners are ready to take it.

“By having government investment, we can get the industry started,” Metzger says. “The sooner we can get it started, the sooner we can start improving life on Earth.”

Quelle: Popular Mechanics