Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation has set a goal of creating a lunar base to extract helium-3 by 2030. Because of the massive benefits, China has been heavily researching the possibility of lunar mining, and Russia’s S.P. Researchers estimate that 25 tons of helium-3 could power the United States for an entire year. Although it’s relatively rare on Earth, it’s abundant on the moon’s surface, where it is deposited by solar winds. Additional information can be found here at About Us.For those of you not in the know, helium-3 is a light, non-radioactive isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. ![]() All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All NASA sourced material is public domain. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2022 - Space Media Network. Planet decision that booted out Pluto is rooted in folklore, astrology NASA's Juno Spacecraft 'Hears' Jupiter's Moonĭeep Mantle Krypton Reveals Earth's Outer Solar System AncestryĬracking the mystery of nitrogen ice dynamics on Pluto Powering The World in the 21st Century at ![]() Needless to say, this is one big idea that will require a BIG program. And the expected annual costs are in the trillion-dollar range. To support the mining operation, a fleet of three lunar ascent/descent vehicles and 22 continuous-thrust orbit-transfer vehicles would be needed. All this translates to a requirement of between 1,700 to 2,000 helium-3 mining vehicles.īased on these numbers, the required power for mining operations would be as high as 39 GW, with a resulting power system mass of the order of 60,000 to 200,000 tons. This number is based on an optimistic concentration of 20 ppb helium-3 in the lunar regolith. To do this would require a regolith mining rate of about 630 tons per second. This study concluded that to supply 10% of the global energy demand by 2040, roughly 200 tons of Helium-3 would be required annually. ![]() ![]() However, it was concluded that the most critical mission element was the lunar mining operation. The assumed mission architecture included individual transportation elements such as Earth-to-LEO, LEO-to-lunar-orbit and lunar-orbit-to-lunar-surface. One study, complete about seven years ago, of an end-to-end process for mining and delivering helium-3 to terrestrial reactors assumed a set of requirements for creating 10% of the global energy demand by 2040. However, little research has been conducted on the complete potential of lunar helium-3 mining. In fact, over the past few decades lunar helium-3 has been cited as a major reason to return to the Moon. Verification of the presence of helium-3 could be very important, because helium-3 is thought to be the ideal future fuel for fusion reactors. This particular isotope is very rare on Earth, but thought to be abundant in lunar surface material. One sample is believed to contain helium-3, an isotope. At the moment Chinese nuclear scientists are studying lunar surface material samples brought back by its Chang'e 5 lunar exploration mission late last year. Apparently, China sees the Moon as a future source of fuel for terrestrial power and space dominance.
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