Prof. Chris Dreyer from the Space Resources Program was recently awarded a $2 million grant as Principal Investigator over two years to develop tools and methods for autonomous landing pad construction on the Moon’s surface. The ASPECT project, funded under the Lunar Surface Technology Research (LuSTR) solicitation will develop technology that will have an impact on humans living on the Moon who will need structures like habitats and landing pads that can be made more efficiently if they’re constructed autonomously by robots. For this project, Mines is partnering with Michigan Tech, Lunar Outpost, and Bechtel Corporation.