Weve heard enthusiastic talk of space asteroid mining missions before, but these ambitious plans could be one step closer to becoming a reality after NASA announced that its began accepting applications from private enterprises to fund such missions in return for access to the moons resources.

If theres one thing that weve learned from science fiction, its that financial gain is one of the biggest driving forces behind space exploration. And the moon could potentially inspire the first lunar gold rush for an element known as helium-3, which could one day revolutionize the energy industry.

NASAs project is known as CATALYST (Cargo Transportation and Landing by Soft Touchdown), and will be entirely dependent on private sector financing. The idea is that NASA will work with private companies like Virgin Galactic to develop (relatively) affordable methods of transport to and from the moon. Companies that fund the project could be given first dibs at extracting minerals from the moon, whilst helping to expedite new exploration and science missions on the lunar surface.

The project is NASAs way of getting around never-ending cutbacks in its budget. In the future, the agency is expected to outsource more of its work to commercial entities, in return for its expertise.

Anyone who can return to the moon would stand to make an absolute fortune. Among the valuable minerals scientists believe can be extracted from its surface is helium-3, an element thats incredibly rare on Earth. When combined with deuterium, a so-called heavy hydrogen thats abundant in our oceans, helium-3 becomes a very effective fuel for nuclear fusion that could potentially revolutionize the energy industry, affording us clean energy for very little cost.

One of the biggest proponents of moon mining has been Naveen Jain, the founder of Moon Express, a space company thats also competing for the Google Lunar X Prize and the chance to extract minerals from the lunar surface.

In an interview with Wired.com last year, Jain pointed out that humans already possess the technology and the experience to reach the moon. After all, NASA did just that more than forty years ago now throw in the financial resources of believers like him, and theres little to stop us from returning.

We fight over minerals and fuel here on Earth, said Jain.

All those things are plentiful in space. We must be able to create more of what we need and change to a mindset of abundance rather than one of scarcity.

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NASA just made moon mining a real possibility