Moon dust to get energy
Next October India will send a rover vehicle to the Moon, with the aim of looking for signs of water and helium-3. It happens that, according to specialized media, this last isotope is quite limited on Earth, but on the Moon, the Earth's natural satellite, it is son abundant it could theoretically satisfy the energy demand of all the planet for approximately 250 years.
Dr. Kailasavadivoo Sivan, president of the Indian Space Research Agency, referring to this issue said recently that within a few years the countries that have the ability to bring this source of energy from the Moon to Earth will dictate the process. The researcher stated later that India does not want to be just a part of that fact, but wants to lead it. The announcement was made at the close of the Observer Space Foundation-Kalpana Chawla Space Policy Dialogue, a meeting held in New Delhi, organized by that private entity.
India plans to launch the Chandrayaan 2 probe to the moon in 2018, which will follow in the footsteps of the Chandrayaan 1 orbiter, India's first lancing mission. This, in addition to an orbiter, will include a landing probe that will also carry a small rover.
According to estimates, there are around one million metric tons of the substance Helium-3 on the Moon, of which only a quarter of this volume could be brought to Earth. Taking into account that the value of the product is of 5,000 million dollars for each ton, the 250,000 tons that are extracted would be equivalent to trillions of dollars. It is worth noting that an isotope of Helium, the Helium-3, can feed nuclear reactors and provide a huge amount of energy without harmful carbon emissions or radioactive products.
On the lunar surface, the substance is dispersed by the solar winds and is absorbed there due to the lack of magnetic field, which happens otherwise on the Earth, so the solar helium 3 does not reach the surface.
India is not the first country to declare its intention to exploit the lunar surface, also Russia and China have expressed their plans to take advantage of the resources of the Moon. In fact, the Russian energy company aims to extract the Helium 3 in 2020, while China will launch a Chang'e 5 lunar unmanned later this year and perform that feat.
