posted 06-13-2012 09:51 AM               

NASA's RESOLVE: Regolith and Environment Science and Oxygen and Lunar Volatile Extraction

The Regolith and Environment Science and Oxygen and Lunar Volatile Extraction, or RESOLVE, consists of a lunar rover and drill provided by the Canadian Space Agency to support a NASA payload that is designed to prospect for water, ice and other lunar resources. RESOLVE will also demonstrate how future explorers can take advantage of resources at potential landing sites by manufacturing oxygen from soil.

NASA will be conducting field tests with the RESOLVE prototype, named Artemis Jr., in July outside of Hilo, Hawaii, with equipment and concept vehicles that demonstrate how explorers might prospect for resources and make their own oxygen for survival while on other planetary bodies.