Dr. Ruby Patterson is Chief Science Officer at The Extraterrestrial Mining Company (XMC), a space industrialization and infrastructure finance company.
Tell us about your background
I’m the Chief Science Officer at XMC—the Extraterrestrial Mining Company. We shortened it because, let’s face it, “extraterrestrial” is quite a mouthful.
My role involves shaping our scientific strategy and working closely with our executive team to bring our mission to life. My journey here is actually pretty interesting. Before XMC, I led Research and Development at the Iceland Space Agency, and prior to that, I worked as a consultant for space startups in Southern California—which is how I connected with Glen Martin, one of our founders. My foundation was built at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where I worked as a Mars Geochemist.
Each career step has given me a different skillset that I now bring together at XMC. As a small but ambitious startup, we all wear multiple hats. I joke that beyond being Chief Science Officer, I’m also our “Chief Vibe Adjuster” and occasional therapist. It’s never just about moon rocks, spectra, or dust mitigation—we’ve all had to become versatile very quickly.
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What does XMC do?
XMC is pioneering lunar helium-3 prospecting and mining. It sounds like science fiction because nobody’s done it before, but our founders Glen [Martin] and Michael [Hewins] recognized the tremendous potential of this isotope. Helium-3 is abundant on the Moon but exceptionally rare on Earth, and its applications are remarkable.
Currently, helium-3 plays a critical role in border security technology. It’s excellent at detecting radioactive materials because of its unique interaction with neutrons, which typically pass through most substances undetected, but interact with helium-3. This makes it invaluable for identifying nuclear weapons or radioactive compounds at border checkpoints.
It’s also transformative in medical imaging—specifically hyperpolarized MRIs. While traditional MRIs use water to image soft tissue, helium-3 can provide high-resolution lung scans. There’s another gas, Xenon-129, that serves a similar purpose, but it has sedative properties—not ideal for lung imaging.
The challenge is that helium-3’s scarcity and high cost on Earth limit its widespread use, particularly for patients who could benefit most, like those with cystic fibrosis or COPD. Sourcing it from the Moon could dramatically increase accessibility for sick patients.
And I haven’t even touched on what I find most exciting—nuclear fusion applications. Helium-3 is potentially revolutionary as a fusion fuel because it doesn’t generate radioactive waste. It’s aneutronic, essentially a clean energy holy grail. While commercial fusion isn’t here yet, we’re making impressive progress, and helium-3 could be the key.
It also has fascinating physical properties, particularly its ability to transition from gas to solid at extremely low temperatures. This is crucial for quantum computing, where qubits need to be cooled almost to absolute zero. Through dilution refrigeration, helium-3 can achieve temperatures as low as 10 millikelvin—regular helium only reaches to 4 kelvin. To put that in perspective, the temperature of deep space is about 2 kelvin, so we’re talking about using something even colder, which is mind-blowing.
Where are we currently sourcing Helium-3?
Here’s an interesting twist—Earth has always been our only source, but our planet’s magnetosphere actually works against us here. Helium-3 arrives on the Moon via solar wind. Since the Moon lacks a magnetosphere, it doesn’t deflect this solar wind, allowing helium-3 to become embedded in the lunar regolith. Earth’s magnetosphere repels solar wind, preventing us from building up similar deposits.
Helium-3 does exist on Earth, but in incredibly sparse concentrations in challenging natural or man-made environments. Our primary source today is tritium reactors—it’s a byproduct from nuclear stockpiles. This process is heavily regulated, slow to regenerate due to the roughly 12-year half-life span of tritium, and quite hazardous—far from ideal for our purposes.
The entire global helium-3 inventory is just a few hundred kilograms. That’s it. This severe limitation directly bottlenecks quantum industry advancement—you simply can’t scale quantum computing if the coolant needed for qubits isn’t available in sufficient quantities.
The demand is real and growing rapidly. Researchers are pushing fusion technology forward, building quantum infrastructure, and who knows what breakthroughs we might achieve in medical imaging with more helium-3 availability? We need to get this resource into the hands of scientists who can use it like a magic wand to create incredible innovations.
What exactly is XMC building?
We’re in stealth mode, so I can’t reveal all the details, but we’ll be emerging from that soon. At a high level, we’re developing an innovative prospecting method that assesses both the abundance and concentration of helium-3 in the regolith, with capabilities to measure to certain depths. We’re also creating isotopic cold plate separation technology to isolate helium-3 gas from the regolith and other gases directly on the Moon. This in-situ processing is the only economically viable approach to bringing helium-3 back—we need to separate helium-3 from helium-4 there rather than on Earth.
To clarify, we’re not transforming regolith into helium-3. Rather, certain minerals in lunar soil act as natural reservoirs for it. The most significant is ilmenite—common on Earth in basaltic terrains but especially valuable on the Moon as the primary helium-3 host.
Ilmenite grains have jagged, non-spherical shapes that create pockets capable of physically trapping helium-3 gas. Its crystallographic structure is also perfectly sized to capture helium-3 molecules. The trapped gas can be released through gentle agitation or heating to about 600-700°C—not too extreme a temperature, geologically speaking. Our plan doesn’t involve returning lunar regolith to Earth—we’ll extract the gas on the Moon, condense it there, and bring only that back.
Which enabling technologies could have a major impact on XMC?
There are definitely organizations developing technologies we’re enthusiastic about. The recent successes of commercial lander companies through NASA’s CLPS program (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) stand out—particularly Firefly’s lander, which executed perhaps the most flawless commercial Moon landing to date. Everything went perfectly for them. That kind of achievement is incredibly encouraging and demonstrates we can rely on external partners for lunar access.
The launch provider landscape has also expanded significantly. Companies developing reusable rockets, like Stoke Space, could potentially serve as launch providers for us. Or Intuitive Machines could build our future lander. Several companies, including Intuitive Machines, are also working on sample return vehicles.
This means we don’t need to invent entirely new systems for lunar landing and return—partners are already building these capabilities. They’re ready for missions like ours and eager to support ambitious ideas backed by sufficient capital. That said, some technologies still need further development. Certain systems and instruments exist in terrestrial mining but haven’t been tested in lunar conditions—that’s a gap being addressed by testing facilities currently under construction worldwide.
The lunar helium-3 industry has a unique dynamic—progress by any company benefits everyone else since we’re all starting from square one. My philosophy is that rising tides lift all ships. Even though we have competitors, every advancement by any player helps the entire field evolve. That’s pretty remarkable.
Explain the core difficulties in what you are doing at XMC?
The lunar environment presents extraordinary challenges that are often underestimated, especially by those who haven’t designed specifically for lunar conditions. Temperature variations are extreme—about 250°C difference between daytime highs and nighttime lows. Each lunar day or night lasts approximately two weeks, so your technology either needs to function effectively in that window or require protection during extended cold periods. You’re also contending with radiation exposure and the ever-present risk of micrometeorite impacts on your equipment—something nearly impossible to prevent.
Then there’s the regolith itself, which is geotechnically very difficult to work with. The particles typically range from 44 to 70 microns—similar to talcum powder in size. But it’s not sticky like honey; it’s sticky like needles, clinging to everything. It’s highly abrasive and carries an electrostatic charge. You need effective methods to remove it without damaging your equipment—perhaps using a magnetic brush or another technique to lift it from lenses or sensors without scratching surfaces.
Jack Schmitt, the only geologist to walk on the Moon, tried wiping lunar dust from his visor. That simple action scratched his helmet so severely that when facing certain angles toward the Sun, it impaired his vision—like driving through fog with oncoming high beams. The dust even created problems after astronauts returned to their ascent module—it adhered to everything and caused respiratory issues they later dubbed “lunar hay fever.”
While we’re not sending humans for our operations, we’re acutely aware of these challenges. Considering dust mitigation, radiation exposure, temperature fluctuations, regolith behavior, and other factors—it’s an incredibly challenging environment. Add unpredictable elements like solar flares or meteor strikes, and you’ve got the complex reality we’re designing for.
How do you define deep tech?
I define deep tech as technology that creates fundamental breakthroughs rather than incremental improvements. It typically combines scientific discovery with engineering innovation to address previously unsolvable problems.