Canada could play important role in future mining on moon: experts

The maple leaf may one day join the stars and stripes on the moon if predictions are true and it one day becomes a mining mecca.

The heads of the world's five largest space agencies are meeting in Quebec City this week to discuss the future of the International Space Station, but The Canadian Press reports that's not the only topic on the agenda.

According to Spaceref.ca, the Canadian Space Agency won't discuss the substance of talks at the meeting, which wraps up Thursday.

But The Canadian Press reports delegates will talk about the prospects of exploiting the moon's untapped resources, including substances that are rare on our planet.

"Canada could figure prominently in any discussion about lunar exploration, with nearly one-quarter of the world's top mining companies headquartered here and this country also known for robotics like the famous Canadarm," reporter Peter Rakobowchuk wrote.

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is developing several prototype lunar rovers in co-operation with NASA and Canadian companies. Testing is underway and the next phase would involve building versions that could be sent into space.

"They're not headed for the moon, yet, although we have hopes for sure," Iain Christie, the president of Neptec Design Group, maker of one of the excavation rovers, said in an interview with CP.

"We're making, I think, a contribution to what Canada's future space program might look like."

Christie said he believes Canada is well positioned to participate in the anticipated lunar mining boom.

"On this planet, we are amongst the leading nations in figuring out how to extract resources from underneath the ground (and) we're also one of the leading countries in space exploration," he said.

"It appears to me, at least from doing a quick survey of what other nations are doing, that it's also a niche that other countries might be prepared to let Canada excel at."

One of the first efforts is aimed at extracting water from ice on the Moon, the prerequisite to any long-term habitation because it would be prohibitive to ship water from Earth.

Neptec, NASA, the CSA and the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology (NORCAT) have been working since 2004 on a water-extraction drilling project.

"It's a very wet place and water is the Holy Grail for space exploration," said Dale Boucher, a senior developer at NORCAT, to CP. "Water provides life support and, when you break it down into hydrogen and oxygen, it will provide fuel for ascent and even fuel for electric power generation, like in a fuel cell."

The moon is thought to hold many minerals that are abundant on Earth but also could be the source of rare elements such as helium-3, which some see as a key to the safe development of fusion energy plants.

Proponents include Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt, one of the last men to walk on the moon, who wrote a 2004 essay in Popular Mechanics encouraging a return.

Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich has made establishment of a moon base within 10 years as part of his candidacy. The promise has been widely derided at a time of spiralling government deficits, though Gingrich said his plan would be funded by private companies.

(Reuters photo)