The Shocking Reason Space Agencies Want the Moon

Bright Side

The Moon isn’t just dust and craters — it may be a cosmic treasure chest. 🌕 Scientists estimate that hidden inside lunar craters lies over $1 trillion worth of platinum and other precious metals. Mining these riches could be far easier than hauling them from distant asteroids, making the Moon a prime target for the next great gold rush. But with nations and private companies eyeing lunar resources, one question looms: will this be humanity’s biggest opportunity… or the spark of a future space race?  Credit: Space Treaty: byITU, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/, https://flic.kr/p/rohePS, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Signing_Outer_Space_Treaty.jpg Apollo 15: by NASA Johnson Space Center, https://flic.kr/p/yYZE7h, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AS15-88-11866_-_Apollo_15_flag,_rover,_LM,_Irwin_-_restoration1.jpg ESA Patch: by ESA, https://brand.esa.int/assets/the-esa-patch/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ESA_Patch_2025.svg Lunar Reconnaissance: by NASA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lunar_Reconnaissance_Orbiter_001.jpg Tsiolkovsky crater: by NASA, https://www.nasa.gov/history/alsj/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Apollo_15_Tsiolkovsky_crater.jpg Aldrin Apollo 11: by Neil A. Armstrong, https://images.nasa.gov/details/as11-40-5903, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aldrin_Apollo_11.jpg Apollo crater LRO: by NASA, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apollo_crater_LRO.jpg DART and OSIRIS-REx: by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14322/ Water at the South Pole: by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio, https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4057/ LRO Peers: by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio, https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4043/ Artemis Generation: by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14205/ Animation is created by Bright Side.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV  Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Our Social Media:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightplanet/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00hey does anyone remember the gold rush back in the 19th century prospectors were flooding

00:07California rivers with a pen in hand chasing well well scientists now say it might be time

00:15for the moon rush because apparently precious metals worth over 1 trillion dollars could be

00:20hiding underneath the surface of the moon that's a lot of money however can we really reach it and

00:27if so who does it belong to if you have ever paid close attention to the pictures of the moon you

00:35probably noticed a lot of holes and craters our satellite is like a giant swiss cheese it has

00:42over 1.3 million craters if you count those larger than 0.6 miles but today we're focusing on about

00:506 500 really big ones those over 12 miles wide those were not made by little green men or

00:57little green moles but rather by asteroids crashing into the moon since eternity scientists compared

01:05moon scans to meteorites and after crunching the numbers they think there could be a fortune in

01:10platinum hiding in those craters what's exciting is that many of these resources could be just a few

01:16feet beneath the surface the moon doesn't have an atmosphere like earth so there's no wind rain or

01:22earthquakes messing things up that means those asteroid crashes left their priceless metals pretty

01:28much right where they landed undisturbed in lunar dust for millions of years with each crater like a

01:35giant space bowl catching platinum iridium palladium and other metals on earth we have to drill super

01:44deep just to get a tiny bit of these by the way did you know that most of the mineable gold on earth

01:50likely came from ancient meteorites when earth first formed almost all the original gold sank into the

01:58core the stuff we can actually dig up today is probably what's left when space rocks slammed into

02:04the crust billions of years ago so maybe you wonder why not reach for the asteroids and mine there

02:13well that's because they're out of reach yes in theory it would be possible to mine from asteroids but

02:19obviously the moon is way closer and easier to get to than any other giant rocks floating in space

02:26we've already walked on it and brought back pieces of it to earth so it's fair to say we are familiar

02:32with it this makes mining it a much smarter step than chasing unpredictable asteroids however asteroids

02:40are next on the list also when it comes to mining the moon it's not just about the prize some of those

02:48craters have frozen water we know that because several missions like nasa's lunar reconnaissance

02:54orbiter and india's chandrayaan one have found frozen water ice in dark craters near the moon's poles

03:02this ice is super valuable because it can be broken down into oxygen and hydrogen they are the parts

03:09needed to make rocket fuel it could also be purified for astronauts to drink or even use to help grow plants

03:15imagine filling up spaceships with fuel right on the moon before flying off to other planets

03:22not only does that sound pretty cool but it's also economical and convenient that would save us a ton

03:29of money and effort and if we're already stopping to refuel why not stick around and set up shop

03:37it's about building a whole new space base and turning the moon into a launching pad for exploring deeper

03:43space space a moon base would let scientists study wild space weather practice building habitats and test

03:50robots in real lunar dust i can't be the only one excited for the future where robots stream

03:56their live missions from the moon the skills and knowledge we developed there could be essential for

04:02living on mars or exploring the moons of jupiter and beyond this is not as far-fetched as you might believe

04:09companies like astroforge and carmen plus are working on tech to mine asteroids and maybe the moon someday

04:17nasa's artemis program is trying hard to set up a sustainable human presence on the moon in the next

04:23decade and europe's space agency is also eyeing lunar resources so yeah the idea of people and robots

04:32working together on the moon is probably just a matter of time still it's not as simple as it

04:39sounds there are big questions that humanity faces just like with the original gold rush it's a bit of

04:45the wild west when it comes to rules the outer space treaty signed in 1967 says no country can claim the

04:53moon as its territory however it's pretty vague when it comes to private companies mining resources

04:59so if you build your rocket and mine some platinum first is it yours well as for right now it's a

05:06guessing game countries are debating and trying to figure it out before the space gold rush turns into

05:12a lunar free-for-all battle royale then there's the challenge of protecting the moon's one-of-a-kind

05:18environment some craters are so quiet that scientists dream of turning them into giant space

05:24observatories that study the universe without any radio noise from earth mining nearby could shake

05:31things up or kick dust into the air lunar soil could damage the sensitive gadgets and ruin the billion

05:37dollar science experiments that would definitely annoy researchers plus some parts of the moon have been

05:45untouched and mining could wipe out cool spots we haven't even fully explored yet so basically we want

05:51to make sure we don't turn the moon into a lunar construction site before we've learned all its

05:56secrets that's why some experts suggest setting up protected zones on the moon like national parks here

06:04on earth where mining and heavy machines just aren't allowed that way we get the benefits of lunar

06:10resources but keep the moon's most important areas safe for research and discovery but here's an even

06:17bigger question how is this thing going to affect us casual earthlings who can't take a walk up to

06:22the moon with our metal detectors and explore the moon's rare metals aren't just worth a lot they

06:29could actually be super useful for future tech platinum group metals which might be found in lunar soil are

06:36used in things like medical gear satellites and even some types of batteries and fuel cells

06:41if the moon really is sitting on a trillion dollar treasure it could boost tech industries and possibly

06:49lower costs there's also helium-3 a rare isotope found on the lunar surface scientists think it could

06:57someday be used for nuclear fusion providing a clean powerful source of energy that doesn't create

07:03greenhouse gases or long-term radioactive waste if fusion becomes possible even small amounts of helium-3

07:11could power entire cities one cool perk of using resources from space is that we could cut down on all

07:18the digging and pollution here on earth that means less damage to our environment and more sustainable

07:25ways to keep up with our growing populations needs on the other hand all these new opportunities could

07:31create new challenges of course there's going to be a cosmic tug of war with who gets the goodies

07:38nobody wants the fear of missing out on a moon rush bottom line lunar mining isn't just a science

07:44experiment it's something that could affect economies technology and the environment here on earth for

07:51better or worse when i was a kid hundreds of years ago we had the moon bases on the covers of our science

07:58books one of the reasons why moon landing projects became so rare is that it just wasn't financially viable

08:05why should a country spend resources to get to the moon if there's nothing valuable up there

08:11however now that we think there's something out there everything could change that's why i already

08:17imagined myself working nine to five on the moon fixing robots and growing moon plants but it's time

08:23to get back to earth so to speak nobody's setting up a moon mcdonald's or booking lunar airbnbs just yet

08:30even the most optimistic experts say we're still decades away from big mining operations or permanent

08:37lunar bases for now most missions will be robotic experimental and with price tags that will make

08:44your head hurt so until we all get our moon mining helmets it's something to think about while moon gazing

08:50hmm what about that wealth hiding on the bright side of the moon thank you for watching

08:58that's it for today so hey if you pacified your curiosity then give the video a like and

09:03share it with your friends or if you want more just click on these videos and stay on the bright side

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