Important Innovations

  NASA Will Pay Thousands for Moon Dirt and Moon Rocks Source:  Moon stock image  Moon Commercial Exploration About to Expand NASA wants to mine the Moon. And to do so, it just announced that it's looking for companies to do lunar mining.  This is a bold bid by NASA to start the commercial development of the Moon.  The initial purpose is to help US astronauts establish permanent bases on the Moon and "live off the land".  And, then for NASA to move forward to Mars where astronauts would need to live off the resources available there. The new program to find valuable resources on the Moon and later Mars is part of NASA's Artemis Project and it is open to international companies. International Companies Encouraged to Participate NASA is looking for private companies, that are already part of space explorations, to collect rocks and dirt from the lunar surface and sell them to NASA, as part of a technology development project.  NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted:

Global Debate Over Moon Laws for Living & Working There NASA's Artemis Accords NASA just released a set of basic principles designed to govern how humans will live and work on the Moon.  They are called the Artemis Accords and include the main tenets of what is designed to become an international agreement for the exploration of the Moon. It has already sparked international debate.  Russia is angry that it's not part of the early negotiations.  In fact, the Russian space agency Roscosmos has accused the Trump Administration of "planet snatching" in its efforts to drive formation of the Accords.  China too has complained that it isn't part of the early negotiations. Lunar Safety Zones and Mining Rights The Accords are designed to establish safety zones around lunar bases to prevent what NASA calls "harmful interference".  They would permit companies and nations to own the lunar resources that they mine.  The Accords are par