2024-04-02 03:40:48
A rare isotope of helium known as helium-3 could provide everyone on Earth with access to clean energy. However, only a small amount of this element enters our planet’s atmosphere from the core.
Interesting Engineering reports.
To provide a country like the United States with clean energy for a year, only 25 tons of helium-3 are required. Therefore, to extract large quantities of this resource, it is necessary to go to the Moon, where its content is higher. A US company called Interlune has already raised $15 million in investments to begin extracting helium-3 and delivering it to Earth.
Interlune has ambitious plans to become the first private entity to commercially mine natural resources on the Moon. The company’s engineers are currently working hard to develop a lander capable of detecting helium-3 concentrations in selected lunar locations.
When two photons combine with a neutron and two electrons during nuclear fusion in the Sun, it results in the formation of helium-3. This helium, along with the solar wind, spreads throughout space. However, most of these particles do not reach the Earth’s surface due to the planet’s magnetic field.
Despite this, some helium-3 enters the atmosphere. In addition, small amounts of helium-3 are produced in the Earth’s core and ejected to the surface, then entering the atmosphere and escaping into space. However, the amount of this helium isotope produced in the core is limited. According to scientists, every year from 300 grams to 2 kilograms of helium-3 accumulate in the Earth’s atmosphere.
It is known that the Moon lacks an atmosphere and a magnetic field, which facilitates the delivery of helium-3 by the solar wind. Scientists estimate that approximately 1.2 million tons of helium-3 could be found on the Moon. Helium-3 mined on the Moon could become a key resource for industries ranging from medicine to nuclear fusion and quantum computing.
NASA has announced plans to begin mining resources on the Moon, including helium-3, as early as 2032. The start date for mining the rare helium isotope on the Moon remains unknown, as does the identification of the first participant in this direction.
Previously, “Cursor” wrote that scientists’ forecasts indicate that by 2075 at least one permanent residential station could be created on the Moon, and some researchers even predict that in half a century the first births of children will begin on the satellite.
2024-04-02 03:40:48