by Dr. Gregory BaidenNASA’s announcement that its Perseverance rover has discovered a potential biosignature in a rock sample taken in the Jezero Crater on Mars represents the closest we have ever come to confirming ancient life beyond Earth. Taken from a rock named “Cheyava Falls” last year, the “Sapphire Canyon” sample contains minerals formed through reactions between organic matter and…
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Data from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Landsat satellite program, managed in partnership with NASA, has helped shape the development of the Thacker Pass lithium project. For more than 50 years, Landsat, the satellite program managed by the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA, has provided continuous Earth observation data to support science-based decision-making, including mine planning in sensitive environments. A recent…
Read MoreJacob Ortega, a Ph.D. student in aerospace engineering at Missouri S&T, sees an opportunity to turn the moon’s surface materials into aluminum for lunar construction, and NASA is backing his research. According to S&T, Ortega has received a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity award to support his research, which focuses on a system that will use molten salt and…
Read MoreA group of students and instructors from across multiple disciplines from the Missouri University of Science and Technology (S&T) were selected as one of seven finalists in NASA’s 2023 Breakthrough, Innovative, and Game-Changing Idea (BIG Idea) Challenge: Lunar Forge. The S&T moon metal work began in fall 2022, when the team submitted a proposal to NASA for the contest. In spring…
Read MoreBy Donna Schmidt Do a Google search for “Is it possible to mine the moon?” and the responses are as varied as our galaxy. For many within the industry, the idea of lunar mining has long been a sought-after achievement – it has just been a question of when and how. Score one for the U.S. in this regard, as…
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As NASA works to extend human exploration of the solar system, human presence on the Moon will be critical for developing and testing the technologies and systems needed for future missions to Mars and beyond.
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