Lunar Drilling, Excavation and Mining in Support of Science, Exploration, Construction, and In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)

Exploration of almost any extraterrestrial body follows a path from low complexity, low science pay-off to high risk, high pay off. The Moon, being the closest extraterrestrial body, was the first body to be examined with a naked eye by ancient astronomers and philosophers from Babylonia, Greece, and Egypt. The invention of a telescope by Hans Lipperhey in 1608 allowed much more detailed observation of the Moon. With the aid of telescopes, Galileo Galilee could not only view details of the lunar surface, but also discovered the four largest moons of the Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto (now called Galilean satellites). The next leap in exploration of space was possible thanks to the development of rockets. Initially, rockets were built for military purposes only. During World War II, these included infamous V2 rockets and soon after, during the Cold War; they included Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) capable of carrying nuclear warheads across the oceans. The ICBMs later formed the foundation for space rockets.