≈2 km craters near the lunar poles provide landing sites on permafrost with permanent sunlight low enough to reach with solar arrays on deployable masts. Radiant Gas Dynamic (RGD) mining in small polar craters will allow human exploration of the Moon at vastly reduced cost. RGD mining combines radio frequency, microwave, infrared, and optical radiation with a surface-enclosing cryotrap and instrumentation to enable large scale (1,000s of tons/yr) ISRU without excavation equipment.
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