In a major disappointment to the lunar scientists’ community, the US space agency has cancelled first-ever robotic mission to Moon that was supposed to excavate material such as hydrogen, oxygen and water from the lunar poles.
According a report in The Verge on Friday, NASA pulled the plug on Resource Prospector that aimed to be the first mining expedition on another world. “There are no other (NASA) missions being planned to go to the surface of the Moon,” Phil Metzger, Planetary Physicist at University of Central Florida who is part of the team for Resource Prospector, was quoted as saying.
Building on the findings of the lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (lCROSS) and lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (lRO) missions that proved the existence of water on the Moon, Resource Prospector planned to take the next step and harvest resources.