Days the Universe Changed.

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by Alex

I'd be curios to see the math on harvesting volatiles since it will be necessary to harvest them at a much greater volume than is expended in getting to them, getting them out of the rock, and then getting them to where you want them.

This is why step one is launching their own space telescopes. They are going for the low hanging fruit. The near earth asteroids, many of which can be reached with a lower energy curve than getting to the moon.

The telescopes will help them map out the locations and compositions of the near earths, the vast majority of which are still undiscovered.

One interesting point, when asked if the data they collect on these asteroids will be shared openly with researchers they ducked the question.