Cash Crop found on Moon

scientists have discovered huge amounts of helium 3 on the moon. now, helium 3 is meant to be a perfect fuel for fussion reactors, more efficient and less poluting than other options. it is rare on the earth, but is abundant on the moon. the technology is not yet currently viable for fussion reactors, but the prospect of a great source of fuel would speed the improvement of this technology, and, a carrot to temp NASA and other donkeys to the moon, must be a good thing for mankind's interstellar travelling prospects.

here's a couple of links:

www.space.com...

news.bbc.co.uk...

www.nuenergy.org...

www.newhousenews.com...

www.abc.net.au...

[edit on 28-9-2005 by moranity1]

The Space.com article appears to be five years old, I wonder if this had anything to do with this recent decision:

Nasa plans return to the Moon by 2020
19 September 2005

"We will return to the Moon no later than 2020 and extend human presence across the Solar System and beyond," Dr Griffin said on Monday.

From the Space.com article:

posted: 30 June 2000

"Helium 3 fusion energy may be thekey to future space exploration and settlement," said Gerald Kulcinski,Director of the Fusion Technology Institute (FTI) at the University ofWisconsin at Madison.

There's certainly been time for consideration.

Jak

[edit on 28/9/05 by JAK]

Harrison Schmitt, true-to-life moonwalker says:

During the last 25 years, a new "space race" has become increasingly urgent. On the one hand, we face accelerating demands for energy arising from the increasing population of the Earth and from the aspirations of that population for a vastly improved quality of life. On the other hand, meeting such demands and aspirations through resources from space has become a real option available to us.

Associates at the University of Wisconsin's Fusion Technology Institute and I have spent the last several years examining the technical, political, environmental, and economic feasibility of a privately-financed return to the moon. This endeavor would be based on the viability of helium-3 (3He) fusion power, using lunar helium resources and inertial electrostatic confinement (IEC) fusion technology to produce environmentally sound power on Earth.

IEC fusion technology by itself has near-term applications in existing markets, particularly in less expensive medical diagnosis and treatment. Further, the space technologies and low-cost lunar byproducts (hydrogen, oxygen, and water) would enable further exploration and settlement of deep space, including the return of science to the moon, the possibility of low-cost tourism into Earth orbit, and protection from asteroid or comet collisions with the Earth.

Our goal for a return to deep space should be to join the Earth, moon and Mars into one environmental and human system, providing for the preservation of the human species and human freedom in the solar system as well as on Earth.

excerpt from interview with Dr. Harrison Schmitt, apollo astronaut

whyfiles.org...


[edit on 28-9-2005 by moranity1]

I read somewhere once that the world's first trillionaire would likely make their fortune either mining the moon or mining astroids for resources. That always made sense to me, and I believe whoever said that was probably right.

It's material ambitions and commercial interests that will eventually drive our journey into space, not science or the thirst for knowledge. Whatever the catalyst, though, I wish it would hurry up.

I think mining the resources on the moon is a very reasonable and acheivable goal. Space is the future of the resources industries.

According to some 30+ year old original unedited pictures taken when we visited the moon. Some is already mining it.

Quickly, how many helium-3 reactors are there here on earth? Answer: 0. Why? The ignition temperature is about 10 times hotter than that of a conventional fusion reactor. What does this mean? It is going to be exteremely hard to fuse the He-3. This is already a problem with all fusion reactor, the amount of energy retained is less than the energy spent to start the fusion.

There are oodles of this stuff in the oceans of earth. In fact, here are some maps of where this stuff is at.

It cost millions to extract it from the ocean, it will cost billions to mine anything in space. This immediately eliminates an economical feasability. This makes it hard to call it a cash crop.

It is also uncertain as to how much helium-3 there is on the moon. The estimates give a wide range from being rare to abundant on the moon.

Helium-3 is created in many minerals at a rate of about 100 atoms per gram per year.
www.polar.org...

People, did you know that the earth would not be here if the moon wasnt there. It is as important as the sun. I say leave it the hell alone. Ill be fine here using solar, wind and water for my power needs.

As JAK said, this isn't new information. We've known about this for years. It hasn't got us back then, it won't now. Humans are a short-sighted species. We'd rather use oil now for 50 years then work to prepare for a future of nearly limitless energy.