While prospecting and mining on the moon or on asteroids is probably a couple of decades away from becoming reality, according to a NASA scientist speaking at a symposium on planetary and terrestrial mining, oversight will be needed by a body much like the United Nations.
The event was a part of the Canadian Institute of Mining's annual convention, and during attendees listened to issues such as ownership and management of resources in outer space that have not yet been worked out among the nations of the world.
The main problem is that no country owns anything in space. One Canadian geologist suggests that a regulatory system will be needed for any future mining in space. Joe Hinzer said the mining industry on Earth is regulated by an international committee under a United Nations umbrella that sets standards in different countries. "I think that's the kind of approach that might work for extraterrestrial stuff as well," he said.
Hinzer also cited Europe as an example, as it has developed its own parliament and system that operates in a manner very similar to the United Nations. But John Gruener, a planetary scientist at NASA, doesn't expect space prospecting and mining to begin any time soon.
He said in an interview that many space agencies are currently focusing their efforts on small robotic missions to the moon. "They can be accomplished in the near term, in five to 10 years," Gruener says. The missions, he said, will focus on ice water that's already been discovered in lunar craters.
"The hope is we can separate the water from the other chemical constituents and then use the water to drink, use the oxygen to breathe and use the hydrogen and oxygen as rocket propellants."
Gruener pointed out the "treasure trove" of Canadian lunar rovers that are currently being developed that can be used to search for water-ice deposits on the lunar surface.
"I see the real utilization of resources in space probably a couple of decades away -- at the most optimistic."
The commercialization of space is one of the next frontiers to be explored over the next few decades, with many billionaires already looking to the stores for future fortunes. Naveen Jain, co-founder and chairman of Moon Express Inc., is one of the couple of billionaires today who share a common vision - the future of private space capitalization. Jain's idea, in particular, is that of bringing lunar landers and mining platforms to the moon.
"People ask, why do we want to go back to the moon? Isn't it just barren soil?" Jain says. "But the moon has never been explored from an entrepreneurial perspective."
