docm,<br /><br />Yeah, I guess. It looks like the test site was on ice, at least that is the impression that I get from the image taken of the hole. Drilling into ice is much different than drilling into soil, especially rocky soil.<br /><br />What I would like to see would be an autonomous drilling robot, which is capable of retrieving cores from at least 5 meters in depth. This robot would be moved from one location to another by some means, so that it could be utilized extensively, which would help to justify the cost. Having a crew of roughnecks devoted to drilling cores would be extremely expensive, so figuring out where the best locations for deep cores to be drilled would save considerable money over blind siting.<br /><br />We need to find out if minerals on the Moon occur in seams, like they do on Earth, or if they are randomly distributed. This will have a big impact on how we go about extracting those minerals, whether by open pit mining, or tunneling. Tunneling offers the protection of being shielded from radiation and incoming rocks, as well as allowing pressurization of sections of the tunnels, which would allow the miners to live close to their work.<br /><br />Open pit mining is generally considered the cheapest way to extract minerals on Earth, but it requires moving a lot of material. Because of the equipment requirements, and the energy needed to operate that equipment, open pit mining on the Moon may be impractical. Developing tunneling technology on the Moon will help us when we decide to tackle Mercury, which is almost certain to be mined heavily at some point in the future. Digging a tunnel that corkscrews into the ground may be the quickest way to establish a base which is shielded from the Sun. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> The secret to peace of mind is a short attention span. </div>