By Contributor,John Werner,Space Frontiers
Copyright forbes
American NASA astronaut Bernard A Harris watches British-American NASA astronaut Michael Foale (out of frame) during the late phases of their shared extravehicular activity (EVA) in the Space Shuttle Discovery’s cargo bay during shuttle mission STS-63, 9th February 1995. (Photo by Space Frontiers/Archive Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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Space Travel in the AI Age
We may not be walking on the moon again, yet, but behind the scenes, scientists are looking closely at resources on this closest extra-terrestrial orb, and space travel is really picking up.
Looking at a chronology of space launches, you can see how instances of space trips really started to pick up as SpaceX matured and other private companies got involved in space travel. But how does this work exactly?
In a recent talk that explores a lot of what’s happening right now, Bernard Harris Jr. mentions the power of public-private partnerships, describes work being done on the NASA Space Shuttle, and generally remarks on what innovators are doing to get us closer to the moon.
Harris has a lot of credentials to be talking about this: besides being an astronaut with a space walk under his belt, he participated in the very first telemedicine appointment involving a location in space, in coordination with the Mayo Clinic. And this, Harris tells us, is just the beginning.
“We’re building space assets,” he explains. “We are establishing the business case for low Earth orbit, … and we’re doing that through the International Space Station and a lot of work that we’re doing in other platforms … that creates this supply and demand that will create this ecosystem that’s going to make everything come into place.”
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American NASA astronaut Jerry L Ross examines a sample tube, German DFVLR astronaut Ulrich Walter wearing a neck brace, American NASA astronaut Bernard A Harris Jr with his arm extended awaiting a blood test conducted by German ESA astronaut Hans Schlegel in the Spacelab Deutsche 2 (SL-D2) science module aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia during shuttle mission STS-55, 26th April to 6th May 1993. STS-55 Spacelab flight which conducted a variety of experiments, which ranged from biology sciences to simple Earth observations. (Photo by Space Frontiers/Archive Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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Boots on the Ground
Harris also breaks news suggesting that a company called Axiom has signed on astronauts on its payroll. (The actual company name is Axiom Space, Inc. and this is a different Axiom than Axiom.ai, a company that we heard from recently at the Imagination in Action conference at Stanford.)
“You probably have not have heard of Axiom, but Axiom was one of the first companies that actually hired commercial astronauts, you know, professional astronauts, to go to the International Space Station,” Harris said.
He also talked about commercial plans to build a “module” that will connect to the ISS, presumably, a little like an extra wing on a mansion, except in deep space.
Noting that Sir Richard Branson has been involved in this field for a while, Harris cited Virgin Galactic as another major player, along with Boeing, a company that he suggested in still going strong, and a firm called Sierra Space.
And, of course, AI is involved – just take a look at this article on an Icarus study where AI found “hidden lunar entrances” that might facilitate landings in the future. AI is involved in moon mapping and mining, too.
Bernard A. Harris Jr. and C. Michael Foale, two astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery, prepare to go outside for a spacewalk. February 9, 1995. | Location: aboard the space shuttle Discovery, in outer space orbiting Earth. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
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Okay, so what can we get from our little orbiter?
Harris spent some time describing some of the goals of new space missions, involving both on-board manufacturing and moon mining. Here are four of the resources that pioneers might harvest:
Helium – special isotopes of helium are present
Water Ice – the moon has a lot of frozen water (more on this in a bit)
Regolith – a specialized compound composing the moon’s “crust” (we’ll get to this, too)
Platinum group metals – we’re working hard to aggregate rare earth metals here at home. We’ll likely be looking for rare moon metals too
Here are a few interesting notes on two of these – water ice, and regolith.
First, Wikipedia describes regolith as “a blanket of unconsolidated, loose, heterogeneous superficial deposits[Nu1] covering solid rock.” It seems rather analogous to the earth’s soil, although regolith doesn’t have all of that “humus” or organic matter, along with, say, Dorito’s chip bags. What it does have is various amounts of stuff like uranium, nickel, etc.
So – water ice.
There are quite a few articles about “water ice” on the moon – but none of the ones that I read fully defined what that is. You would assume it’s just frozen H2O. If you do a google search, you’ll get a lot of info on the frozen treats you would get out of a vendor kiosk.
So I asked ChatGPT – what is this stuff, and how does it differ from the ice that you would make in your home?
First, the model gave me this:
“When scientists say ‘water ice on the Moon,’ they mean frozen H₂O trapped in ultra-cold polar soils and shadows—often dirty, mixed with dust, thin, and patchy—plus some frost and (separately) OH signals. It’s real water, just nothing like Earth’s glaciers or ponds.”
But then, also, look at this list that it gave me. Read it carefully. I think this is emblematic of the unique ways that LLMs “think” – and how they do not presume that it’s strange to contrast moon ice with the ice in your freezer.
Q: what is the difference between this moon ice and the ice you would create by freezing water in a refrigerator?
A: Here’s the quick, practical difference:
Purity & “dirtiness”
Freezer ice: Almost pure H₂O, clear/white cubes.
Moon ice: “Dirty”—mixed grain-by-grain with lunar dust (regolith), plus other volatiles (CO₂, NH₃, SO₂), metals, and organics.
Where it sits
Freezer: Solid blocks in trays.
Moon: Patchy frost films and tiny grains inside permanently shadowed, airless soils; sometimes centimeters–meters below the surface—rarely a clean sheet.
Temperature & pressure
Freezer: ~255–273 K (-18 to 0 °C), at 1 atm; melts to liquid.
Moon: 30–120 K in vacuum; liquid water is unstable—ice goes straight to gas (sublimates) if warmed or sunlit.
Crystal structure
Freezer: Mostly ordered hexagonal ice (ice Ih).
Moon: Can be amorphous or disordered/crushed micro-grains due to extreme cold, vacuum, and radiation.
Radiation & chemistry
Freezer: Shielded; little chemical change.
Moon: Bombarded by solar wind and micrometeorites; creates/breaks H₂O and OH, alters ice, and implants hydrogen/helium.
Mechanical behavior
Freezer: Cohesive cubes you can pick up.
Moon: Ice acts like cement binding dust, or as fragile frost; low cohesion and very abrasive surroundings.
Isotopes & impurities
Freezer: Terrestrial isotope ratios; few impurities.
Moon: Mixed origins (comets, asteroids, solar wind, volcanism) → different D/H ratios and trace compounds—scientifically valuable.
Freezer: Scoop and you’re done.
Moon: Must mine, heat, and separate from dust and other gases; careful thermal control to prevent sublimation and loss.
This answer doesn’t just tell you that “it’s different” or mention the temperature difference and leave it at that. You have items like the instant evaporation of moon ice when sunlit – but there’s also a lot more to really define both of these different H2Os, at molecular levels, in terms of utility, texture, etc.
As for the location of this water ice, NASA is looking at this closely.
Combine that with some of the things that Harris is saying, and you might actually get “star-struck” again – as in the great old days of the 1980s, the early days of Steven Spielberg, when young people looked out of their bedroom windows inspired by tales of stratospheric and deep space intrigue. And you can bet that when we get there, AI will be going with us.
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