Extra-terrestrial resource use is key to human expansion through the cosmos

Human space exploration is projected to expand to long-term or permanent habitation of the Moon, Mars, and beyond. If the goal of human planetary exploration is always to return to Earth (like NASA’s Apollo missions to the Moon) then limited exploration to use local planetary resources, such as asteroids for rocket propellant manufacture, may aid a future Apollo-style program. Presently, such a constrained engineering effort, capped by an end date, seems to miss some aspects of the human spirit. However, if our goal is to build a permanent, expanding, and self-sustaining extra-terrestrial civilization, then a myriad of clever uses must be made of planetary resources. A new solar-system economy must be based on resource occurrence and accessibility, where options for ore extraction, transport, and manufacturing are favorable and economically beneficial.1–6 The industrial base of a civilization on the Moon or Mars would rely on raw materials from rocks (see Figure 1), ice, and the air.6 Space-based solar power could supply Earth with energy derived from structures manufactured partially from asteroids.5 Additionally, asteroids and the Moon could supply rocket fuel for the new solar-system economy.1 The first step in this approach is the identification of resources on Mars, asteroids, and the Moon with coordinated robotic orbital reconnaissance, surface forays, and subsurface assays. Local and remote robotic analysis of areas with colonizing potential must incorporate advanced onboard data processing, positive feature detection, the quantification of material properties, intelligent autonomous decision making, a flexible capacity to reorder exploration priorities, and effective humanrobot interaction.7 A scheme based on fuzzy autonomous cognition and decision making has been proposed for astrobiological exploration,8 and it is also required for resource exploration. Figure 1. NASA’s Opportunity rover explored potential Mars resources. Left: Light-toned mud-cracked rock (∼ 0.6m or 2 feet across) is composed of magnesium-calcium-iron-sodium-potassium-rich sulfates and minor chlorides and silica-rich material. Middle: color enhancement shows compositional details. Right: Color-enhanced panorama shows a thin layer of hematite granules (potential iron ore) overlying salt-rich rocks.