NASA has funded an early-stage concept known as "Interworld Slingshot Resource Surveys," which aims to develop new methods for mapping minerals on the moon, asteroids, and the moons of Mars. Led by principal investigator Pablo Sobron of the SETI Institute, the project seeks to bring "Landsat-style mineral intelligence" to other worlds. This refers to the kind of mineral and environmental data collected by Earth's Landsat satellites, which have been monitoring Earth's surface and climate for over 50 years. The initiative is part of NASA's larger goals, including establishing a lunar base in the 2030s and accessing valuable lunar resources like helium-3, a potential fuel source for future fusion reactors. The concept is currently in Phase 1 of NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, which supports the development of futuristic ideas that could be turned into real missions. This project is not meant to solve all the challenges of lunar mining right away but to serve as a foundational study for a future Discovery-class mission. The proposed spacecraft would travel between different celestial bodies, scanning the moon, near-Earth asteroids, and the Martian moon Phobos. A key focus is testing the feasibility of using Raman spectroscopy from orbit or during a flyby. This technique uses a laser to analyze the molecular structure of materials by studying the light they reflect. One of the biggest challenges for the project is the vast distance involved. Raman scattering, the phenomenon used in this technique, is extremely faint—only about one photon in 10 trillion is scattered. Previous long-distance experiments by Sobron reached about 120 meters, but the study is exploring whether useful data can be collected from much greater distances, such as 30 to 50 kilometers. This would be a significant technological leap and could open new possibilities for remote mineral analysis on celestial bodies. The project has received up to $175,000 in Phase 1 funding from the NIAC program, which supports the development of conceptual ideas that could lead to future missions. If the initial research is promising, the next step would be to apply for more substantial Phase 2 funding over a two-year period. Success in this phase could pave the way for a more advanced mission that could transform how we explore and understand the mineral wealth of our solar system.