is a project funded by NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI). Jennifer Heldmann is the Principle Investigator (PI) of the project, Matt Deans and Alexander Sehlke serve as Deputy PIs.



RESOURCE focuses on determining the types of volatiles, their quantity, and their availability for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) on the Moon. Furthermore, the project tests the technology required for processing those resources and test the concepts of operations (ConOps) required for a sustained human presence on the lunar surface.


Recognizing that science and human exploration are mutually enabling, NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) addresses basic and applied scientific questions fundamental to understanding the Moon, Near Earth Asteroids, the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos, and the near space environments of these target bodies. As a virtual institute, SSERVI funds investigators at a broad range of domestic institutions, bringing them together along with international partners via virtual technology to enable new scientific efforts.