NASA just cut a 10-cent check to kick-start moon mining tech:
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson presented Justin Cyrus, CEO of Colorado-based space startup Lunar Outpost, with the first payment ever issued to a company as part of a space resource contract announced Aug. 23 here at the 36th annual Space Symposium. The check, which was just 10 cents, or 10 percent of Lunar Outpost's $1 bid, and will go towards the company's efforts to collect lunar dust, or regolith, for the agency.
"We had contractual terms with them when they produce their first element. We would give them 10% of their contract award. I am happy to present a check for 10% of their bid. Justin, here's a check for 10 cents," Nelson said.
[...] "This sets a legal and procedural framework that will be utilized for generations and decades to come for companies like ours and many others to go out and collect resources from the lunar surface from other planetary bodies and make them basically useful for humanity," Cyrus said.
[...] Now, as part of this contract, the company will "collect a small amount of moon dust, verify the collection and transfer the ownership of that lunar regolith," Nelson said.
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Wednesday September 01 2021, @09:59PM (1 child)
Provided you've got a big chunk of empty desert to aim at, landing metals is fairly cheap. Just form them into the shape of a big glider, cover them in a foot or so of slag as an ablative heat shield and let them go.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday September 01 2021, @10:06PM
That's also what I want to happen.
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