Hi and welcome to Settle the Solar System, a Lunar Homestead podcast.

This episode covers the Resource Extraction component of the Lunar Homestead Shielded Pressurized Oxygen Resource Extraction, or SPORE, concept. All Lunar settlements will have to engage in mining because that's where the resources are. Using SPORE to mine will eliminate almost all of the hazards and challenges associated with surfacing mining and give us unique options for solving the rest. I'll also answer the question "What is Open Science?".

• [00:00] - Intro
• [01:06] - Resource Extraction
• [02:11] - Regolith properties
• [04:45] - Mega-regolith properties
• [06:46] - Problems with Lunar mining
• [9:39] - Newsletter reminder
• [10:20] - SPORE solution
• [12:15] - Lunar gravity
• [13:28] - Manual hand tools
• [15:44] - Pneumatic and power tools
• [18:10] - Potential disadvantages
• [19:51] - Needed research
• [23:11] - Listener Question - What is Open Science?
• [28:32] - Outro

• Most of the Lunar resources are bound up in rocks. Homesteaders are going to have to be miners to get them.
• While the current paradigm focuses on the regolith; the mega-regolith is a better place for resource extraction.
• The current paradigm focuses on surfacing mining, an activity that comes with a lot of challenges.
• SPORE focuses on mining the mega-regolith, avoiding the problematic regolith above.
• Human miners are a better option than robots. We can use humans now instead of waiting more decades for Lunar mining robots.
• Humans using Lunar-made hand tools might be a viable option for Lunar settlement creation.
• There is a lot of stuff that needs to be researched and you can help!

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Next week's episode will cover the SPORE component of Habitat Creation. Because building our settlements underground is simply better than leaving them exposed on the Lunar surface.

And attempt to answer the question "Why are paywalls bad for science?" in just a handful of minutes.

• Lunar Homestead website
• Ask a question or just say "hi" - ben@lunarhomestead.com