Moon Mining Rights?

[sunshaker]

I watched a program on moon mining yesterday, about private companies planning to mine the moon(working at moment with nasa) also that china seems to be the ones who are going to get there first.(sooner than we think).

 

They where saying about helium 3 which could solve earths energy problems and fuel earth for thousands of years, plus many minerals not found on earth are in abundance on the moon.

 

It seems to me which ever company/country that is able to mine the moon first will basically become the greatest power on earth, controlling a wealth in fuel/minerals/water,

 

I cannot see a good outcome that would suit everyone, Perhaps a 50% tax on profits that go into a joint earth fund to end poverty.

 

So how would you get mining rights ? or should there be mining rights?

 

One company that seems to be doing alright selling parcels of land on the moon/planets.

http://lunarembassy.com/#!prettyPhoto

 

 

At the last count over 6,011,311 people are already proud owners of their extraterrestrial property

Perhaps i will set up a business where these individuals(easily parted from their money) who have brought these parcels of land can register with me for a "small fee" to manage their land.

Edited March 16, 2015 by sunshaker

[fiveworlds]

Tidal control? Any changes in the moons overall mass will have an impact on the effect of gravity by the moon upon the earth's surface and also its overall spin around the planet

Edited March 16, 2015 by fiveworlds

[sunshaker]

I don't think it will make alot of difference, I believe earth gains about 100 tons of mass each day from dust/meteorites, unsure about what the moon gains but without a protective atmosphere/magnetic fields, I would expect it to be higher than earth per volume of surface area. Which would offset what is mined to some degree.

[fiveworlds]

unsure about what the moon gains but without a protective atmosphere/magnetic fields,

 

That wouldn't make much difference the mass would just be turned into smaller particles it would still be on earth. I would imagine a fairly similar ratio has been maintained in the long term. If we remove mass from the moon and bring it to earth we change this ratio

Edited March 16, 2015 by fiveworlds

[imatfaal]

I don't think it will make alot of difference, I believe earth gains about 100 tons of mass each day from dust/meteorites, unsure about what the moon gains but without a protective atmosphere/magnetic fields, I would expect it to be higher than earth per volume of surface area. Which would offset what is mined to some degree.

We also lose shedloads in hydrogen and helium just leaking away - 3kg of H2 and .05kg of He per second.

 

 

...They where saying about helium 3 which could solve earths energy problems and fuel earth for thousands of years, plus many minerals not found on earth are in abundance on the moon....

So in essence hypothetical fuel for the still hypothetical reactors?

[sunshaker]

 

So in essence hypothetical fuel for the still hypothetical reactors?

once we are able to obtain vast amounts of helium 3 this technology becomes worth investing in, And would soon become the major energy source.

 

Helion Energy now has a Helium 3 fuel cycle for its magneto-inertial fusion process

http://www.helionenergy.com/?page_id=199

 

There are many companies out there now investing in ways to use helium 3 as a fuel, By the time we start shipping helium3 back to earth there will be many companies ready and waiting.

[swansont]

That wouldn't make much difference the mass would just be turned into smaller particles it would still be on earth. I would imagine a fairly similar ratio has been maintained in the long term. If we remove mass from the moon and bring it to earth we change this ratio

By how much? That's the important thing. The earth's mass is 6x10²⁴ kg. Six tons is a change of a part in 10²¹.

once we are able to obtain vast amounts of helium 3 this technology becomes worth investing in

 

There's also the tiny matter of making fusion actually work.

[imatfaal]

once we are able to obtain vast amounts of helium 3 this technology becomes worth investing in, And would soon become the major energy source.

 

Helion Energy now has a Helium 3 fuel cycle for its magneto-inertial fusion process

http://www.helionenergy.com/?page_id=199

 

 

No - I don't think it does. Fusion power generation that actually makes more power than you put in for a decent (ie commercial) amount of time has not yet been demonstrated.

[EdEarl]

It might make economic sense to mine the Moon for resources to use in orbit around the Earth. Launch cost per pound from the Earth is very high; whereas, launch from the Moon is much less. One key technology is making a 3D printer that uses stuff from the Moon to print things. Silicon, aluminum and titanium are available. Aluminum and titanium would be good for structural components for a space station, satellites, vehicles. Silicon can be used to make PV panels.

[imatfaal]

For your guidance

 

once we are able to obtain vast amounts of helium 3 this technology becomes worth investing in, ...

 

While fusion power is still in early stages of development, substantial sums have been and continue to be invested in research. In the EU almost €10 billion was spent on fusion research up to the end of the 1990s, and the new ITER reactor alone is budgeted at €10 billion.

 

It is estimated that up to the point of possible implementation of electricity generation by nuclear fusion, R&D will need further promotion totalling around €60–80 billion over a period of 50 years or so (of which €20–30 billion within the EU) based on a report from 2002.^[153] Nuclear fusion research receives €750 million (excluding ITER funding) from the European Union, compared with €810 million for sustainable energy research,^[154] putting research into fusion power well ahead of that of any single rivaling technology. Indeed, the size of the investments and time frame of the expected results mean that fusion research is almost exclusively publicly funded, while research in other forms of energy can be done by the private sector

 

We are already investing staggering amounts of money into fusion research

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_power#Economics

[John Cuthber]

 

We are already investing staggering amounts of money into fusion research

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_power#Economics

We have, but I think that's mainly for kicks and giggles- nobody expected it to make money.

[ajb]

So how would you get mining rights ? or should there be mining rights?

There are international agreement, similar to the Poles, that no individual country can make a claim on owing the Moon or part thereof. (http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/SpaceLaw/moon.html)Three important issues here

 

i) It would only apply to those countries that signed it.

ii) Certain countries that have signed it are known not to honour international agreements (You know who you are)

iii) It does not apply to individual or private companies.

[sunshaker]

I have brought a few domain names which i think may do well in the future like: best wireless chargers.com hyperbolic meta materials.com & quantum navigation systems.com and a few to do with bitcoin which i have gave up on.

 

I thought it may be worth getting in on buying a few for the moon. (i watched about a few companies who where looking to freight materials to the moon)

 

these 4 are available, I will only buy 1or2 which would you think will be best in the long run. freight or freighters?

 

a/ moon freighters.com

 

b/ luna freighters.com

 

c/ moon freight.com

 

d/ luna freight.com

[Chalkman]

I wonder... Its only a rock what damage would a mine explosion cause I wonder...

[Endy0816]

Do you mean a deliberate explosion?

[brodyoneill1]

As stated by a few people already, mining on the moon could severely damage the moons mass, which would lower the gravitational pull that the moon has on us, changing the tides in weird ways. Also, mining the moon, and the rights to mine on the moon, could spark a war of some sorts, to decide who "owns" the moon.

[Chalkman]

What I mean in more detail is, this element is used for a replacement for our energy consumption. Will they refine this on the moon, to power the mining process, what dangers are associated with the creating of this new energy. Could it be the downfall of the moon.

[Endy0816]

It would need to be processed on the moon with most of the material simply ending up as refuse.

 

Hypotheoretically He-3 would be useful in fusion power. Risks to the moon itself would be negligible.