Caterpillar wants to mine the moon

[Debi]

Construction Company Caterpillar Wants To Mine the Moon

• Construction giant Caterpillar hopes to one day bring its autonomous mining technology to one of the universe's most sought after mining locations: the moon.
  
  
• Technology used in autonomous and remotely operated mining equipment in use today could someday harvest precious elements from the Lunar surface.
  
  
• Mining the moon, Mars and other celestial bodies will be an incredibly difficult task; NASA is working on the technology to make it happen.
  

Caterpillar, one of the largest construction companies in the world, is aiming for a spot on the lunar surface and plans to adapt their range of autonomous and remote-controlled mining equipment for use in space.

NASA previously collaborated with Caterpillar between 2004 and 2013 on a project pairing construction and robotics, NASA spokesperson Clare Kelly to CNBC News. “There are many synergies between what NASA needs to meet exploration goals and Caterpillar technologies used every day on Earth,” she said, though formal plans between Caterpillar and NASA haven't been announced at this time.

Likely because there’s still a long way to go before the construction, but here's how moon mining tech could potentially work.

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[Debi]

Somehow I can just see my son involved in this project somewhere. They've sent him to China, but I'm putting my foot down about moon trips!

 

[Debi]

What are your thoughts on us mining the moon?

 

[ozentity]

I don't know much about this stuff but as the moon affects the tides,plant growth and probably most living creatures on Earth,I say leave it alone.We need to look at making this planet more sustainable, and reducing our population is the best start,no matter how unsavoury that sounds, everyone knows this must happen at some point.The greed of our governments is beyond belief.

 

[Lynne]

It wouldn’t surprise me to learn we were already digging there.