Tag: Interlune
-
Interlune Demonstrates 99% Pure Helium-3 Production With New Cold Capture Technology
The Seattle-based startup announced that its proprietary Cold Capture™ technology successfully extracted and purified helium-3 from Grade A helium. Rather than waiting until the 2030s for material from the Moon, the company says the system can immediately expand Earth’s supply of one of the world’s rarest industrial gases while validating the same core technology it…
-
Interlune extracts helium-3 from ordinary helium, demonstrating a process it plans to use on the moon
Mechanical engineer Sam Heyd, Chief Technology Officer Gary Lai and chemical engineer Brenden Pelkie operate the Cold Capture system in Interlune’s Cryogenic Lab at the company’s Seattle headquarters. (Interlune Photo) Seattle-based Interlune says it has managed to produce 99% pure helium-3 from a standard supply of industrial-grade helium, marking a milestone for a technology that…
-
NASA taps Blue Origin to deliver lunar rovers for Moon Base initiative
An artist’s conception shows Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lander lowering an Astrolab rover to the lunar surface. (NASA Illustration) Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture has won NASA’s nod to deliver crew-carrying rovers to the lunar surface as part of the space agency’s decade-long plan to create a base near the moon’s south…
-
Astrolab to Send Scientific Payloads to Lunar South Pole on FLIP Rover Mission
Astrolab is preparing to send a series of scientific payloads to the Moon later this year aboard its FLIP rover mission aimed at supporting future lunar exploration near the Moon’s south pole. The company said its FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform rover, known as FLIP, will carry multiple research instruments designed to study lunar surface conditions,…
-
Interlune wins $6.9M NASA contract to create system to extract helium-3 and hydrogen from moon dirt
Interlune test engineer Alex Lewandowski and mechanical engineer Jessica Wu check test equipment for the mass spectrometer system in the Regolith Lab at the company’s Seattle headquarters. (Interlune Photo) NASA has awarded a $6.9 million contract to Seattle-based Interlune for the development of a system that can extract gases such as helium-3 and hydrogen from…
-
As Moon interest heats up, two companies unveil plans for a lunar “harvester”
The Moon has received a lot of attention in recent months, particularly the surface of Earth’s cold and dusty companion. This has largely been driven by a decision from SpaceX founder Elon Musk to pivot, at least in the near term, from Mars to lunar surface activities and the potential for using material there to…
-
Interlune digs into the development of an excavator for helium-3 and construction projects on the moon
Interlune and Vermeer worked together to test a full-scale prototype of an excavator with auxiliary components. (Interlune / Vermeer Photo) Interlune is leveraging a $150,000 NASA contract to develop develop lunar trenching and excavation technology — and although the primary goal is to extract valuable helium-3 from moon dirt, the project also signals the company’s…
-
Interlune brings in fresh funding to keep its mission to mine the moon moving forward
An artist’s conception shows Interlune’s robotic harvester on the moon. (Interlune Illustration) Seattle-based Interlune is raising additional investment to support its campaign to identify and extract resources on the moon that can be brought back to Earth, starting with helium-3. The fundraising effort came to light in a document filed with the Securities and Exchange…
-
Interlune will team up with Astrolab to send a camera to the moon for helium-3 survey
An artist’s conception shows Astrolab’s FLIP rover on the moon. Interlune plans to put a helium-hunting multispectral camera on the rover. (Astrolab Illustration) Seattle-based Interlune says it’s struck a deal with California-based Astrolab to send a multispectral camera to the moon to estimate how much helium-3 is present in lunar soil. Interlune’s camera will be…
-
A long-shot plan to mine the Moon comes a little closer to reality
Look, no one said building a large harvester to roam around the Moon and sift through hundreds of tons of regolith to retrieve small amounts of helium-3 would be easy. And that’s to say nothing of the enormous challenge of processing and then launching any of this material from the lunar surface before finally landing…