The lunar surface is rich with titanium, iron and other minerals but you would never know it looking at most photos or even looking directly at it. The sunlight reflection coming off the moon is so intense, it causes most photos to appear over exposed or just shows shades of gray.

It’s possible to capture high enough resolution lunar images, either natively or via image stacking techniques, to pull subtle mineral colors out of the sea of gray. The faint colors in my moon shot is light reflecting off lunar surface mineral deposits. The hint of blue in the dark areas of the lunar maria is from light reflecting off titanium and subtle rust colored areas is light reflects off iron and other minerals.

It’s possible to get a much higher resolution mineral moon shot compared to the shot I posted using a telescope or stacking lots of high resolution dSLR or mirrorless images together. For the image I posted, I wasn’t using an auto-tracking astro mount, just a fixed tripod, so I only used a single, high resolution uncompressed 100 MB RAW file to process the image. One of these days I might go to the effort to shoot a tracked, stacked trophy shot for a wall hanger.


Wonder how long until we’ll have a TV version of Gold Rush on the moon? Would you tune into Moon Mining or Alien Base Hunters? I suspect one day both will be streaming.

Neat post and picture. Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful

that is incredible Blue Moon
are you going to try & shoot the Green Comet?
would weight be an issue with mining minerals from the moon?

Thanks everyone! I always appreciate the comments and encouragement.

Butch, I'm not sure if I’ll get a chance to shoot the green comet. I was looking forward to it when it was a tad closer but it was overcast for days on end and then the moon was full and the comet is very faint. This week it’s close to Mars. Here’s a link to track it: Track the Green Comet

I shot NEOWISE back in the summer of 2020 and that comet was much more visible but even then, it wasn't very visible in a wide area landscape shot.

Regarding mining minerals, or even more valuable elements, on the Moon, while it will be extremely challenging I suspect it will happen in the future. The harsh environment, lack of atmosphere, as well as payload weight restrictions you pointed out, will certainly be a limitation.

While we could have a lunar gold rush, it’s more probable we would mine something much more lightweight and rare, like Helium-3. It’s not found on Earth but is thought to be abundant on the moon and has the potential to fuel fusion reactors that could provide unlimited clean energy on earth.

Some ideas are being floated around to address some of the known lunar mining challenges -

• Robotics and automation: To have any hope of overcoming the harsh conditions, the use of robots and automated systems capable of excavation, material handling and processing would be a requirement for lunar based mining operations.

• In-situ resource utilization (ISRU): This is a mouthful but it’s basically making use of readily available lunar resources instead of transporting heavy equipment from Earth. For example, using lunar regolith (the layer of loose soil and rock covering the solid surface of the Moon) as a source of oxygen and hydrogen, which can be used to support human life and fuel rockets. Also see: Regolith excavation
• Low-gravity extraction methods: Due to the low gravity on the Moon, traditional heavy-duty mining equipment such as drilling rigs or excavation equipment may not be feasible. Instead, more lightweight and adaptable equipment could be used, such as scooping or scraping tools.

• 3D Printing: 3D printing technology could be used to produce lightweight and modular mining equipment on the Moon. This would eliminate the need for heavy equipment to be transported from Earth, and would allow for more efficient and flexible operations.
• Power generation: To power mining operations, solar panels or other forms of renewable energy would likely be used, as they are lightweight and can provide reliable power.
• Lunar rovers: To transport mined minerals, lunar rovers could be used to transport the materials to a central location, where they could be loaded onto a spacecraft for transportation to Earth or used on the moon

• Partnership with private companies: Private companies with experience in space exploration and mining could be engaged to perform the mineral extraction operations on the Moon. These companies could bring in the necessary technology, equipment, and expertise to make the operations economically viable.


Overall, a combination of these approaches, along with advances in technology and innovative solutions, could make mineral extraction on the Moon feasible and sustainable. The chance for unlimited clean energy as we move forward will likely fund the venture.

Here’s a shot I took of comet NEOWISE back in the summer of 2020. The comet is in the upper right corner. Thanks again!

Thanks for your input

Beautiful picture of the moon.
And the green comet website is awesome too.

Thanks for sharing

Awesome!

Very nice.