Take out the image. The moon's near side, as seen from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. Caption
NASA is distributing a large chunk of change to make moon mining possible.
Through its Break the Ice Lunar Challenge, which is a competition to foster the development of moon mining technology, the space agency has given $500,000 to 13 teams.
NASA is committed to the extraction and use lunar resources, such as water ice, and is currently working with Artemis to establish a permanent human presence around the moon by the end 2020.
Related: NASA selects Intuitive Machines for landing an ice-mining drilling drill on the Moon
"Expanding the range of ideas for excavating moon resources safely and responsibly requires new technological development," Monsi Rome, Centennial Challenges program Manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama said Wednesday, August 18, when the Break the Ice awards were made.
Roman said, "The system concepts created as part of the challenge will enable sustainable lunar surfaces operations, paving our way for us to transform lunar ice into vital resources and decreasing Earth's supply needs."
Redwire Space was awarded the first place in this challenge. Redwire Space, a Florida-based company, won first place for its concept. It would use two rovers: a mining bot as well as a lightweight transport vehicle.
A team from Colorado School of Mines won the $75,000 second prize for their three-rover system. Austere Engineering, a Colorado company, won the third prize and $50,000 for their idea. It would use a rotary tiller to excavate icy regolith.
Another ten teams were also awarded $25,000 each. These are:
AggISRU, Texas A&M University in College Station
Aurora Robotics, University of Alaska in Fairbanks
Lunar Lions, Columbia University Robotics Club of New York
OffWorld Robotics, Pasadena (California);
Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh (Wisconsin);
Rocket M, Mojave (California);
Space Trajectory, South Dakota State University in Brookings
Redmond, Washington: Team AA-Star
Team LIQUID, Altadena (California)
Terra Engineering in Gardena, California.
Thirty-one teams representing 17 U.S. States, Australia, Sri Lanka, and Canada submitted proposals to the Break the Ice Lunar Challenge. It opened in November 2020. These teams created a detailed system architecture and a plan for ice excavation. They also animated their system in action. NASA officials stated in the same statement that a future phase of competition could focus on hardware demonstration and development.
