§ 2 Lunar Materials Utilization

LEFT: Apollo 15 lander & launcher rockets, moon buggy, and astronaut more than 30 years ago
RIGHT: NASA artist's depiction of a future lunar base

Table of Contents:

§ 2.1 Overview of lunar materials and their utilization

§ 2.2 The origin and composition of the moon

§ 2.2.1 Highlands vs. Lowlands geology
§ 2.2.2 The Apollo and Luna landings
§ 2.2.3 Major lunar minerals


§ 2.2.3.1 For aluminum
§ 2.2.3.2 For calcium
§ 2.2.3.3 For titanium
§ 2.2.3.4 For iron
§ 2.2.3.5 For volatiles (hydrogen, water, other)
§ 2.2.3.6 For other minerals


§ 2.2.4 Powdery texture (helps in mining and processing)

§ 2.3 Mining the surface

§ 2.4 Lunar bases

§ 2.5 History of lunar probes

§ 2.6 Others' webpages on lunar materials and utilization

Lunar materials utilization is addressed in official circles and websites more than asteroidal materials utilization, largely because there is support within NASA for a "Return to the Moon" mission as a steppingstone to Mars. PERMANENT first tries to fill in the gaps that other WWW sites don't address. Usually, this also means presenting a private sector (profitable) scenario rather than a government bureaucracy (taxpayer) scenario.

LEFT: Apollo 11 lunar lander about to dock with orbiter in lunar orbit in 1969. NASA photo.
RIGHT: Delivery of lunar oxygen (LunOx) to a space station in lunar orbit. NASA artwork by Mike Carroll.

Roadmap to related topics:

§ Chapter 3:(XR) Transportation of asteroidal materials

§ Chapter 4:(XR) Industrial processing and manufacturing with asteroidal materials

§ Chapter 5:(XR) Space products and services from asteroidal materials

Back to Asteroids Near Earth - Other Websites

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