Imagining a world beyond ours from the ‘Space settlement Institute.’
According to this article in Manufacturers’ Monthly, a team of researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne have their sights set high.
They are on the way to putting Australia on the world map in space manufacturing with a prototype device called MAPrad. It’s a tenth of the size of existing sound penetration radar (GPR) systems allowing users to see more than 100 metres below ground level. Twice the depth that existing technologies can achieve.
So why is this important to space exploration and what are the implications?
First of all it can be sent into space to identify minerals, ice deposits or voids such as lava tubes on the moon and beyond.
One of the aims is to see if the moon could support human settlement.
This is a shift from the initial development of MAPrad that was focussed on mining applications closer to home. But it was clear that there were exciting applications for space exploration and research as well.
In fact, start-up company CD3D has received funding from the Australian Space Agency’s ‘Moon to Mars’ initiative to further develop the prototype with RMIT.
It could be a crucial step in mapping ice and mineral deposits in space as well as putting Australia on the map as a top tier space manufacturer. For greater detail on this system, please view the article here…
As another related bit of interest there is a link to a site of a non-profit making institute that aims to garner support and research of this kind to realise settlement and resources from the moon and beyond. See more here….