Using lunar ice to make rocket fuel could help future lunar settlements sustain themselves and provide a launch pad for astronauts to reach Mars.

Mississippi State mechanical engineering senior Cooper Shanks, left, watches as 6-year-old Christopher Best shows off his custom “Christopher VI” rocket, built for him by MSU’s Space Cowboys.

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. After a string of dramatic failures, the huge ...