NASA is asking commercial companies to provide proposals for the collection of space resources in preparation for future Mars and Moon missions.
In order to meet the requirements set by NASA, companies will have to collect a small amount of Moon “dirt” or rocks from any location on the lunar surface. They will then have to provide NASA with the imagery of the collection, the collected material, and the data identifying the collection’s location.
The ability to collect resources from the surface will be very important on Mars. New techniques that might arise from companies collecting materials from the lunar surface could help NASA on future Mars missions.