How Canada can help mine the moon

In today’s Big Story, the first functioning lunar mining operations may be much closer than people think. Both China and NASA have committed to plans to put bases on the moon in the next decade or so, and doing so will likely involve extracting and exploiting lunar resources.

In a special two-part episode, The Big Story is joined by Alex Ellery, a Canada Research Professor in space robotics and space technology at Carleton University, and Heather Exner-Pirot the senior fellow and director of natural resources, energy and environment at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute. They join us to walk us through the technical challenges, geopolitical implications and potential advantages of moon mining.

“I think clean energy is the only way we can make space mining, space exploration, the industrialization of the moon, relevant to people on Earth,” says Ellery.

There are lots of valuable commodities on the moon, and it also makes a great jumping-off point for further space travel in the future. So could Canada’s experience with space robotics and remote mining operations make us a significant factor here?

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