With Artemis 1 stacking right now and the first launch planned by the end of the year, the moon is getting more attention than we have seen since the 1960s. The plan this time is to stay in a permanent moon colony, supported by mining operations on the lunar surface. But what could we mine there? And why will it be necessary for our future moon ambitions as well as interplanetary travel?

There's gold in them there craters. Let's take a look.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.