Writing a cyberpunk  book about Gamers taking over the Moon, in which nobody ever goes to the Moon, generated a massive number and variety of technical, scientific and engineering problems and their solutions.

These fall under the category ISRU – In Situ Resource Utilization.  But for the largest part, this has been thought of as a way man could go to and live on the Moon, using native materials and elements.

But what if ISRU was for robots?

Perhaps because of differing goal sets and orientation, the implications had not been explored well, or at all.  Perhaps because man did go to the Moon, our view and perspective of it is highly anthropomorphic.

By contrast, the very difficulty of getting men to Mars (eight months one way, likely four years total voyage time) has facilitated robotic exploration of it,.  In turn that may result in far greater success than if the orientation had been an immediate push for manned missions.

In many cases the scientific and engineering subjects seem to not have been well covered in the published, peer reviewed literature on lunar science and research.    Future findings in the sciences and applied science, such as materials technology, may change preferred methods.