Russia to open moonbase mine for Helium-3

[Royston]

Please see the full article via the link the below...

 

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17943650-23109,00.html

 

"We are planning to build a permanent base on the moon by 2015 and by 2020 we can begin the industrial-scale delivery ... of the rare isotope Helium-3," Nikolai Sevastyanov, head of the Energia space corporation, was quoted by ITAR-TASS news agency as saying at an academic conference.

 

Helium-3 is a non-radioactive isotope of helium that can be used in nuclear fusion.

 

Rare on earth but plentiful on the moon, it is seen by some experts as an ideal fuel because it is powerful, non-polluting and generates almost no radioactive by-product.

[SmallIsPower]

I'm glad some spacefaring nation had the sense to do this!

[silkworm]

I hope they have the resources to accompish this.

 

The Moon is going to be pretty cramped in 2020 with US, China, Japan, and Russia. I bet it won't get it's own reality show though.

[tejaswini]

i hope they do this soon . but talking about the cost ,i think it will be available only to the first world countries ,what about developing countries like india.

[JustStuit]

I thought they still had some pollution from fusion of helium-3 but the fusion methods would have to be more advanced to use it wouldn't they?

[herpguy]

This is good. I hope it starts more rivalry in the space race so more countries will do things like that.

[gcol]

How would they carve up the mining rights? A 300 mile exclusion zone around each landing site? "Oi, get your rocket off my land, or I'll set the dogs on you!"

 

A Californian gold rush on the moon? Bring back the Western, and beware of Indians.....

[[Tycho?]]

I highly doubt this is going to happen in that time frame. I doubt the US will be able to afford it, and its not like the Russians are swimming in money or technology at the moment. Besides the amount of helium 3 that is actually on the moon is little more than a guess. You need to go through very throurough surveying before you build a base on the moon to mine the stuff.

 

And jesus, we can't even use helium 3 yet! We dont have even the most simple of fusion reactions down pat, there still in the experimental phase. Wait until ITER is up and running before you even think about helium 3.

[padren]

Well, maybe by taking the lead in an aggressive way, they hope to spur other nations into planning their own operations, then they can negotiate a better role in a combined multi-national operation, which would end up making more sense with a moon base.

 

I would love to see some sort of moon base constructed in that time frame. I would also love to see He-3 mined and auctioned to private companies for producing power, and funding space exploration in a whole new way.

[ecoli]

I would love to see some sort of moon base constructed in that time frame. I would also love to see He-3 mined and auctioned to private companies for producing power' date=' and funding space exploration in a whole new way.[/quote']

 

Definately... if present day oil companies are allowed to get first dibs on the He-3, it'll keep everyone in relative states of satisfaction.

[nik]

People are making home-made fusion reactors.

 

http://jlnlabs.imars.com/cfr/html/hpcfr21.htm

 

this was done in 2003.

[insane_alien]

People are making home-made fusion reactors.

 

http://jlnlabs.imars.com/cfr/html/hpcfr21.htm

 

this was done in 2003.

 

 

AHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahah.... you don't think thats real do you? they don't have anything to do with fusion! we haven't even broke even with any fusion reactor on the planet. and every cold fusion reactor has been a hoax.

[RyanJ]

People are making home-made fusion reactors.

 

http://jlnlabs.imars.com/cfr/html/hpcfr21.htm

 

this was done in 2003.

 

Insane_alien is correct' date=' no way! Some guy did make a mini-nuclear reactor but thats [i']fiss[/i]ion not fussion

 

Cheers,

 

Ryan Jones

[augment]

I haven't studied physics or anything but isn't changing the moons mass really stupid. I mean the moon affects ocean waves and stuff. If the mass of the moon increases couldn't that change ocean waves? Our gravitational relationship with the moon has been good for a long time, why risk changing it now.

[Sisyphus]

What on Earth (or Luna) are you talking about?

[insane_alien]

augment: do you know how much helium we would have to extract to make even a measurable change in the moons gravity? i beleive it would be equivalent to the mass of a mountain range. we could probably extract every atom of helium from the moon and still not be able to detect a difference.