Extra-Terrestrial Water: Resource Prospecting, Acquisition, and Processing

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EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL WATER
Resource Prospecting, Acquisition, and Processing
Prospecting refers to the process of analyzing a territory in search of valuable resources, for example, mineral deposits, precious metals, chemical elements, and water on or below the surface of a particular environment. Therefore, prospecting outside of Earth's boundaries includes the analysis of Near Earth Asteroids(NEAs), neighbouring planets, and their respective moons to search for critical resources that would be useful to humans. Prospecting is the initial step of the geological analysis. It is a crucial precursor to future mining operations and the acquisition of necessary resources. Through prospecting, humans can obtain essential information about the basic characteristics of a possible resource such as its size, shape, location, and mineral composition of the prospect, which helps them make informed decisions and plans about the next course of action. A significant example is NASA's Perseverance rover sent to Mars in early 2020. Its primary mission is to analyze evidence of past life on the red planet and collect samples and rocks for further analysis.
Once substantial evidence of a specific resource has been obtained, the next step of the mining operation begins. This process, resource acquisition, is the process of extracting the resource from its natural state. These resources are then processed into more useful forms that humans can easily use in situ. In situ resource utilization is the combination of prospecting, acquisition, and processing resources on interplanetary missions instead of transporting the resources from Earth. This method substantially minimizes the high costs associated with extra-terrestrial explorations (Moses and Bushnell 1).
Extra-terrestrial water
The discovery of large volumes of water-ice below the Martian surface by the rover Odyssey strengthened the possibility of past or future life on the planet. A 2008 search mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation confirmed the presence of water on the moon (Gill and Firaque). Numerous other studies have confirmed the availability of water in our solar system. Suppose these studies are anything to go by. In that case, they could lead to considerable advancements in understanding and colonization of other planets in the solar system.
Water is one of the most important resources available to humanity. In the human body, water constitutes 80 percent of the body weight. It plays an extensive role in sustaining body cells and body functions. Reductions of up to 20 percent of the water in the body would lead to immediate death by dehydration.
In photosynthetic plants, water is necessary for three main functions: it helps green plants in photosynthesis, which is the process by which green plants make their food; transpiration, a process by which plants lose water into the atmosphere, thus cooling the plant and the distribution of nutrients from the soil to plant cells. For the eventual colonization of Mars by humans, water is necessary for life and the sustainability of plant-based food.
Water also helps to absorb the infra-red radiations emanating from the Sun, which protects humans from some of it...