Despite all the controversies and conspiracy theories regarding humanity’s exploration of the moon, the fascination with our celestial neighbor remains strong. Lately, there has been an uptick in interest thanks to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Artemis program. Depending on the outcome of these ventures, the next major move would be to send machines like this by Interlune.
So far, the upcoming missions include a crewed flight to orbit the moon in 2026. A crewed lunar landing will follow in 2027. Although these are rightfully thrilling, NASA’s other ambitious plans are what space enthusiasts want to see in their lifetime. These include the construction of a base, a colony, tourism facilities, and mining the natural satellite.
As it stands right now, Interlune’s lunar vehicle is already in the prototype phase. Nevertheless, it aims to collect a rare resource that’s purportedly abundant on the moon. Scientists believe the solar wind continuously deposits helium-3 into the upper layer of regolith on the lunar surface, so the harvesting process shouldn’t be as labor-intensive.
Interlune, alongside Vermeer Corporation, is co-developing the platform. In an ideal scenario, it can process approximately 100 metric tons of regolith every hour. At the same time, its system uses a chemical separation method to filter the helium-3 from the regolith. A massive undertaking such as this will follow three stages.
Crescent Moon is due to launch this year and will leverage hyperspectral imaging technology to scan helium-3 deposits. What follows is Prospect Moon, which will deploy a prototype harvester. Once Interlune confirms that everything functions accordingly, the Harvest Moon protocol will begin full-scale operations. The isotope is expected to sell for $20 million per kilogram.
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Images courtesy of Interlune
