China intends to mine the rare isotope, Helium-3 from the moon in an attempt to solve the world’s energy crisis. China’s next lunar step? China intends to build a mine on the moon to harvest Helium-3, a rare helium isotope. Scientists believe that mining Helium-3 from the moon may be the energy miracle the world has been waiting for. According to Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, the moon is rich with Helium-3. Ziyuan says that mining the moon for the isotope could solve the world’s energy problems by providing renewable energy through nuclear fusion. Whereas nuclear fission is the splitting of atoms to create energy, nuclear fusion is fusing two or more lighter atoms into a larger one to achieve a similar effect. Though nuclear fission doesn’t normally occur in nature, nuclear fusion occurs naturally in stars. The energy produced via nuclear fusion is three to four times greater than the energy produced by nuclear fission. Scientists say that a mere 40 tons of Helium-3 harvested from the moon, (an amount that could be carried in the cargo bays of two space shuttles), could power the entire United States for over one year at its current energy consumption. Helium-3 is rare on Earth because the atmosphere and magnetic field which surround the planet prevent any Helium 3 from landing on the surface. The Earth’s moon, however, contains vast quantities of the isotope that have been dumped there by solar winds.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 02:06:06 +0000
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