Handbook of Space Resources, 2023

Earth has limited material and energy resources, while these resources are virtually unlimited in space. It is only a matter of time, before planetary resources are mined and used in-situ to sustain human and robotic exploration or returned to Earth for commercial gain. This book covers a number of aspects related to space resources. In particular, subjects related to mission concepts, exploration approaches, mining and extraction technologies, commercial potential, and regulatory aspects of space resources are covered in detail. This book is therefore a good resource for readers who seek background and deeper understanding of space resources related activities.

Viorel Badescu is Professor of Engineering Thermodynamics and affiliated with Candida Oancea Institute at Polytechnic University of Bucharest. His mainstream scientific contributions consist of more than 300 papers and forty books related to various fields in science and engineering. Most of his research areas refer to terrestrial and space solar energy applications, including research on photo-thermal energy conversion and solar power plants, the physics of radiation, photovoltaic conversion of solar energy, solar radiation properties and solar radiation distribution and forecasting. Other fields of interest are statistical physics and thermodynamics, the physics of semiconductors, optimal control of thermal engineering processes, terraforming and macro-engineering. He is Associate Editor and Member of the editorial board of several international journals including Space Power, Energy, Renewable Energy and Journal of Energy Engineering and Reviewer for more than fifty international journals. He is also Member of several scientific societies including the International Solar Energy Society and the European Astronomical Society and Member of the Romanian Academy. 

Dr. Kris Zacny is Vice President and Senior Research Scientist at Honeybee Robotics. His focus is on developing space mining robots for In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) and space exploration. Prior to joining Honeybee Robotics, Dr. Zacny worked in South African underground gold, diamond and coal mines. Dr. Zacny received his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in Extraterrestrial Drilling and Mining. He participated in several Antarctic, Arctic, Atacama and Greenland expeditions. Dr. Zacny has over 200 publications, including several co-edited books, and multiple NASA Group Achievement Awards. Dr. Zacny is Principal Investigator of TRIDENT ice mining drill scheduled to launch to the Moon in 2023 and 2024, as part of PRIME1 lander and VIPER rover, respectively. Heis