According to the results of the new study, scientists have determined that under the surface of the Moon platinum and other precious metals worth at least $1 trillion may be hidden under the earth’s surface.
A team of researchers led by Jayantha Chennamangalam has determined that out of about 1 million 300 lunar craters with a diameter of more than 9.6 meters, 6.5 thousand were formed as a result of collisions with asteroids, which contain commercial reserves of platinum, as well as other valuable ores, including palladium and iridium.
«Today, astronomy exists to satisfy our curiosity It has very few practical applications and is mostly paid for by taxpayers, which means that research funding depends on government policy. If we can monetize space resources, whether on the Moon or on asteroids, private enterprises will invest in solar exploration», — Jayanth Chennamangalam notes.
Chennamangalam found that on the moon there are significantly more craters with asteroid remnants containing ore than there are available asteroids with equivalent reserves. Mining in these craters is much easier than traveling to distant asteroids on the surface where gravity is usually too low for mining.
However, international legislation in the form of The Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which prohibits any state from claiming sovereignty over or occupying the Moon or other celestial bodies. This is currently the subject of lively debate. However, experts argue that these rules still allow governments to find loopholes and continue to claim licensing rights to resource extraction.
The United States has tried to offer a framework by creating the non-binding Artemis Agreements, which provide for the establishment of security zones around mining sites. However, the key space players — China and Russia — have refused to sign these agreements, questioning their legitimacy and effectiveness in establishing clear international rules. Before space excavators can start working, humanity will have to find answers to complex legal and ethical questions: who has the right to mine our satellite and under what conditions.
Mineros lunares: EE.UU. demuestra una cosechadora para recoger helio-3
The results of the study are published in the journal Planetary and Space Science
Source: Futurism
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