Moon In 2009
Niceess....(Pettie) Woo!Moon In 2020
what the H**L?? Mining The Moon
A potential gas source found on the moon's surface could hold the key to meeting future energy demands as the earth's fossil fuels dry up in the coming decades.Mineral samples from the moon contain abundant quantities of helium-3, a variant of the gas used in lasers and refrigerators.
Some boosters of the new moon missions argue that helium-3, an isotope rare on Earth but common on the moon's surface, could be used to fuel nuclear fusion reactors on Earth.
When helium-3 combines with deuterium (an isotope of hydrogen) the fusion reaction proceeds at a very high temperature and it can produce awesome amounts of energy.Just 25 tonnes of helium, which can be transported on a space shuttle, is enough to provide electricity for the US for one full year.
Helium-3 is deposited on the lunar surface by solar winds and would have to be extracted from moon soil and rocks. But no one knows if reactors based on helium-3 would be technically or economically feasible.If a helium-3 reactor can be feasibly built, humanity may get a financial incentive to explore the cosmos (although that incentive may only come through an oil shortage). Unless we can find an inexpensive way to lift objects into orbit, we may be stuck on this planet for the next century and a half (no joking here).Damn....again (This time to Crazy Science).
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