Enlarge / If all goes well, this is how Lunar Resources' extractor could appear on the lunar surface in a few years. (credit: Lunar Resources) In recent years, much has been said about mining water ice in shadowed craters at the Moon's South Pole for use as rocket propellant. Enthusiasm for this idea has led NASA to begin planning the first human missions of its Artemis Program to land near the South Pole instead of the mid-latitudes. However, a Houston-based company says there is value in the gray, dusty regolith spread across the entire lunar surface.