skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Space resources. Volume 3: Materials

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6870452

Space Resources addresses the issues of using space resources to support life on the Moon and for exploration of Mars. This volume - Materials - covers a number of technical and policy issues regarding the materials in space (mainly lunar and asteroidal) which can be used to support space operations. In part 1, nature and location of these materials, exploration strategy, evaluation criteria, and the technical means to collect or mine these materials is discussed. A baseline lunar mine and the basics of asteroid mining are presented and critiqued. In part 2, the beneficiation of ores and the extraction of such materials as oxygen, metals, and the makings of concrete are discussed. In part 3, the manufacturing and fabrication of nonterrestrial products are discussed. The economic tradeoffs between bringing needed products from Earth and making these products on location in space is considered. Separate abstracts have been prepared for papers in this report.

Research Organization:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Houston, TX (United States). Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
OSTI ID:
6870452
Report Number(s):
N-93-16875; NASA-SP-509-VOL-3; S-689-VOL-3; NAS-1.21:509-VOL-3; LC-92-4468; ISBN: 0-16-038062-6
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Original contains color illustrations
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English