The mine in the moon

Private ventures and governments might mine on the moon and Mars.

“We’re running out of many of the basic elements that we need for industrialization,” says Lisa Pratt, a professor of geological sciences and astrobiology expert.

She predicts that mining will begin on the moon in the next 40 to 50 years. ''“Lots of people are interested in Mars as a place where you could potentially have human outposts,” Pratt says.

One way to do that is by terraforming — changing a planet so that it would resemble Earth and sustain plants and animals.

Chris Mckay, planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, says there are fi ve steps to make Mars habitable for humans:

1. Explore Mars to determine the total amount of CO2 and H2O.

2. Produce “super” greenhouse gases.

3. Introduce hardy life forms such as alpine plants and mosses.

4. Grow trees at the equator.

5. Wait for plants convert CO2 to O2.

While this is possible, McKay says there is no serious terraform plan as of yet. However, “We are already doing the first step,” he points out. “And we could get as far as trees if we tried.”