Page 18 - IFIA_Magazine_No11

| IFIA Magazine - Mar ch 2021

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NASA’s new lunar exploration program is the
Artemis Program. As human space exploration
evolves toward a permanent presence on
by nasa tournament lab
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the lunar surface, In situ Resource Utilization
(ISRU) will become increasingly important.
Resupply missions are very expensive. We
need to develop practical and affordable
ways to identify and use lunar resources so
that our astronaut crews can become more
independent of Earth. Future astronauts have
to be able to locate and collect lunar resources
and then transform them into the essentials
for life: breathable air, water for drinking
and food production, building materials for
shelter, rocket propellants, and more. Our
mission capabilities will rapidly increase when
useful products can be created from in-situ
resources.
The ability to prospect, map, and characterize
these in-situ resources not only increases
NASA’s progress towards a sustained
presence on the moon but also could
revolutionize mining, purification systems,
the pharmaceutical industry, and other
commercial industries – much as we realized
enormous technological benefits and
advances from the Apollo Program. NASA has

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