Momayez Discusses Lunar Mining on KOLD

Interim MGE department head Moe Momayez recently received $500,000 in NASA funding for a new project to advance lunar mining. He is leading the project with aerospace and mechanical engineering associate professor Jekan Thanga to develop swarms of 3D-printed autonomous robots that may revolutionize future Moon missions. 

The team plans to build and train the robots here on Earth, so they can practice. Ultimately, the researchers envision a fully autonomous swarm of robots that doesn't need to receive instructions from Earth to mine materials and construct simple structures. These robots are also designed to function well in the Moon's harsh environment. 

“We need the lunar mining to use the Moon as a base to launch missions to other planetary bodies,” Momayez told KOLD. “I never thought that I would do mining on the Moon, but I am an avid Star Trekker, and I can talk for hours about the aspirations I got from Star Trek. It helped me develop a few technologies... Aerospace, particularly the space program, is going through another golden age now so we are super excited about that. With this whole lunar effort, I think what is most important is for the U.S. government to have a firm plan that we are returning."