A handful of soil, which was picked up on the crest of the lunar crater Camelot, slipped from an ordinary scoop into a special Teflon bag and, together with the Apollo 17 team, went to Earth. On that day, December 13, 1972, few could have imagined that a sample of lunar soil numbered 75501, as well as soil samples delivered by Apollo 11 and a number of other expeditions, including the Soviet research station Luna 16, will serve as a weighty argument for mankind to decide to return to the moon in the 21st century. This realization came only 30 years later, when young scientists from the University of Wisconsin found a significant content of helium-3 in a sample of lunar soil. This very interesting substance is an isotope of the well-known gas - helium, which is used to fill colorful balloons during the holidays.
Even before the USSR and the USA lunar missions, a small amount of helium-3 was found on our planet, then this fact was already interested in the scientific community. Helium-3, which has a unique intra-atomic structure, promised fantastic prospects for scientists. If we manage to use helium-3 in a nuclear fusion reaction, it will be possible to get a colossal amount of electricity without drowning in hazardous radioactive waste that is produced at nuclear power plants regardless of our desire. The extraction of helium-3 on the Moon and its subsequent delivery to Earth is not an easy task, but at the same time, those who get involved in this adventure can become the owner of a stunning reward. Helium-3 is the substance that can forever rid the world of "drug addiction" - fossil fuel, oil needle.
On Earth, helium-3 is fatally lacking. A huge amount of helium originates in the Sun, but a small fraction of it is helium-3, and the bulk is the much more common helium-4. While these isotopes move as part of the "solar wind" towards the Earth, both isotopes undergo changes. Helium-3, so precious for earthlings, does not reach our planet, as it is thrown away by the Earth's magnetic field. At the same time, there is no magnetic field on the Moon, and here helium-3 can freely accumulate in the surface layer of the soil.
Nowadays, scientists consider our natural satellite not only as a natural astronomical observatory and a source of energy resources, but also as a future spare continent for earthlings. Moreover, it is precisely the inexhaustible source of space fuel that is most attractive and promising. A new possible continent for earthlings is located at a distance of only 380 thousand kilometers from our planet; in case of some global catastrophe on Earth, there could well be a shelter for people here. From the Moon, you can observe other celestial objects without much interference, as on Earth this is to some extent interfered with by the atmosphere. But the main thing is the inexhaustible reserves of energy, which, according to scientists, would be enough for mankind for 15,000 years. In addition, the moon has reserves of rare metals: titanium, barium, aluminum, zirconium, and that's not all, scientists say. Today humanity is only at the very beginning of the path to the development of the Moon.
At present, China, India, USA, Russia, Japan - all these states are in line to the moon, and these countries are becoming more and more. Another surge of interest in the Moon arose in the mid-90s of the last century. Then in the scientific community the assumption arose that there might be water on the moon. Not so long ago, the American LRO probe with the Russian Lend device finally confirmed this - there really is water on the Moon (in the form of ice at the bottom of craters) and there is a lot of it here (up to 600 million tons), and this solves many problems.
The presence of water on the Moon is especially valuable, as it can solve a large number of various problems that arise during the construction of lunar bases. Water will not have to be delivered from the Earth, it can be processed directly on site, says Igor Mitrofanov, head of the space gamma spectroscopy laboratory at IKI. According to some calculations, with proper desire and funding, humanity could settle on our natural satellite in 15 years. Moreover, most likely, the first inhabitants of the Moon would have lived at its poles near large reserves of discovered water.
However, many things on the moon would have to get used to in a new way - even to such a process as walking. It is much easier to jump on the Moon, the fact that gravity here is 6 times less than on Earth, at one time was convinced by Neil Armstrong, when 40 years ago he first stepped on the surface of this celestial body. At the same time, the main enemy of man on the moon is currently radiation, there are not so many options for salvation from which. According to Lev Zeleny, director of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, there is no magnetic field on our natural satellite. All the radiation from the Sun gets to the Moon and it is quite difficult to protect yourself from it.
At the same time, the fact that the Moon should become the first step for human advancement in space is an indisputable fact, Zeleny Lev believes. According to him, the Moon can become a transshipment base for launches to other planets of the solar system. It will also be possible to place an early warning station about the approach of dangerous space objects to the Earth: comets and asteroids, which is quite important in light of recent events. The most important thing, however, is helium-3, possibly the space fuel of the future. It is hard to believe, but the dark gray dust, which is lined with the entire surface of the Moon, is a storehouse of this unique substance.
Oil and gas on the planet do not last forever. According to a number of experts, mankind will live on these resources for about 40 years without any special problems. Today, nuclear power plants are the only alternative, but this is not so safe due to radiation. At the same time, a thermonuclear reaction involving helium-3 is environmentally friendly. According to scientists, nothing better has yet been invented and there are at least 2 reasons for this. Firstly, it is a very effective thermonuclear fuel, and secondly, which is even more valuable, it is environmentally friendly, notes Erik Galimov, director of the Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry named after V. I. IN AND. Vernadsky.
According to the estimates of Vladislav Shevchenko, head of the department of lunar and planetary research at the State Astronomical Institute of Moscow State University, the reserves of helium-3 on the Earth's natural satellite will be enough for thousands of years. According to experts, the minimum volume of helium-3 on the Moon is about 500 thousand tons, according to more optimistic estimates it is at least 10 million tons there. During the reaction of thermonuclear fusion, when 0.67 tons of deuterium and 1 ton of helium-3 enter into the reaction, energy is released, which is equivalent to the combustion energy of 15 million tons of oil. It should be noted that at present it is still necessary to study the technical feasibility of carrying out such reactions.
And the extraction of this substance on the moon will not be easy. Although helium-3 is located in the surface layer, its concentration is very low. The main problem at this point in time is the reality of helium production from the lunar regolith. The content of helium-3 required by the power industry is approximately 1 gram per 100 tons of lunar soil. This means that for the extraction of 1 ton of this isotope, at least 100 mln.tons of lunar soil.
In this case, helium-3 will have to be separated from unnecessary helium-4, the concentration of which in the regolith is 3 thousand times higher. According to Erik Galimov, in order to extract 1 ton of helium-3 on the moon, it will be necessary, as mentioned above, to process 100 million tons of lunar soil. We are talking about a section of the Moon with a total area of about 20 square kilometers, which will need to be processed to a depth of 3 meters! At the same time, the very procedure for delivering 1 ton of this fuel to Earth will cost at least $ 100 million. But in fact, even this very large amount is only 1% of the cost of energy that can be extracted at a thermonuclear power plant from this raw material.
According to Shevchenko's estimates, the cost of extracting 1 ton of helium-3, taking into account the creation of all the necessary infrastructure for its production and delivery to the Earth, may amount to $ 1 billion. At the same time, the transportation of 25 tons of helium-3 to the Earth will cost us 25 billion dollars, which is not such a large amount, considering that such a scale of fuel is enough to provide earthlings with energy for a whole year. The benefits of such an energy carrier become obvious if we calculate that the United States alone annually spends about $ 40 billion on energy carriers.
According to calculations made by the American astronaut Harrison Schmitt, the use of helium-3 in terrestrial energy, taking into account all the costs of delivery and production, becomes profitable and commercially viable when the production of thermonuclear energy using this raw material exceeds the capacity of 5 GW. In fact, this suggests that even 1 power plant running on lunar fuel will be enough to make delivery to Earth cost-effective. According to Schmitt's estimates, the amount of preliminary costs even at the research stage will be about $ 15 billion.
One of the possible options for the extraction of helium-3 was proposed by Eric Galimov. In order to organize the extraction of the isotope from the lunar surface, he proposes to heat the regolith to 700 degrees Celsius. After that, it can be liquefied and removed to the surface. From the point of view of modern technologies, these procedures are quite simple and well known. The Russian scientist proposes to heat raw materials in special "solar ovens", which will focus sunlight on the regolith using large concave mirrors. In this case, from the lunar soil it will be possible to extract the oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen contained in it. This means that the lunar industry could produce not only raw materials for the terrestrial energy complex, but also rocket fuel for the rockets carrying it, as well as air and water for people working at the lunar enterprises. Similar projects are currently being worked on in the United States.
But this is not all that the lunar soil can give us. The regolith contains a high content of titanium, which in the long term will help to establish the production of elements of rocket bodies and industrial structures directly on the natural satellite of the Earth. In this case, only high-tech elements of rockets, computers and instruments will have to be delivered to the moon. And this can open up a second promising direction for the entire lunar economy - the construction of the most economical spaceport, a scientific base for the study of the entire solar system.
