[vaseline2008]

First of all, I'm not 100% sure this topic belongs in this forum, but it does pertain to current events. Admin, please move to appropriate forum if this is not the place.

Has anyone else noticed lately that there is a renewed interest in going to the Moon?
Selene <-- Japan
Chang'e 1 <-- China
Chandrayaan <-- India
NASA

How will space travel be possible without oil?

Moved to Open Discussion = “Post off-topic (non-peak oil) current events news & media here.” –FL

[Ainan]

They are after Helium-3 on the moons surface to power fusion reactors so we can carry on consuming and growing.

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ainan', 'T')hey are after Helium-3 on the moons surface to power fusion reactors so we can carry on consuming and growing.

[Nickel]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vaseline2008', 'H')as anyone else noticed lately that there is a renewed interest in going to the Moon?
Selene <-- Japan
Chang'e 1 <-- China
Chandrayaan <-- India
NASA

[Nickel]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ainan', 'T')hey are after Helium-3 on the moons surface to power fusion reactors so we can carry on consuming and growing.

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vaseline2008', 'F')irst of all, I'm not 100% sure this topic belongs in this forum, but it does pertain to current events. Admin, please move to appropriate forum if this is not the place.
Has anyone else noticed lately that there is a renewed interest in going to the Moon?
How will space travel be possible without oil?

[Ainan]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Nickel', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ainan', 'T')hey are after Helium-3 on the moons surface to power fusion reactors so we can carry on consuming and growing.

[Nickel]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ainan', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Nickel', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ainan', 'T')hey are after Helium-3 on the moons surface to power fusion reactors so we can carry on consuming and growing.

[Ainan]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Nickel', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ainan', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Nickel', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ainan', 'T')hey are after Helium-3 on the moons surface to power fusion reactors so we can carry on consuming and growing.

[Sys1]

They obviously haven't heard about Olduvai theory. Deny is so powerfull that our cornucoppian growth obsession is respected as a religion.

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Novus', ' ')Cutting off Nasa would mean turning off the spigot to a large part America's innovation pool.

[Graeme]

The Moon Could Meet the World's Energy Needs for the Next 10,000 Years

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')ining the moon to meet our energy needs may sound like the plot from a sci-fi movie, but China is considering doing exactly that. Helium 3 is an extremely valuable isotope that could be used in clean fusion plants to generate energy – and it’s available in vast quantities on the moon. Some scientists say that the moon is so rich in Helium 3 that it could solve the world’s energy problems for at least 10,000 years.

Helium 3 is a light, non-radioactive isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron. It’s dumped upon the moon’s surface by solar winds, and is available in relative abundance. Two fully-loaded space shuttle cargo bays filled with the material (about 40 tons) could power the United States for an entire year at the current rate of energy consumption. This would require mining an area on the moon the size of Washington DC. Helium 3 is rare on Earth because our planet’s atmosphere and magnetic field prevent deposits from reaching the surface – but the moon doesn’t have this problem.

[TrickyDick]

This is irrelevant, because we can't go back to the moon, according to Washington politicians. We used to be able to go there, back in the previous century, but in this century, it's out of the question.

[Graeme]

Not for China.

[efarmer]

http://edn.com/electronics-blogs/powers ... h-reactors

Here is a thumbnail about it from Electronic Design News.

[Peak_Yeast]

I suppose the impressive thing in this article is that they actually think they know what energy needs the "world" has for the next 10.000 years.

[KaiserJeep]

He-3/Deuterium fusion is the one reaction we know how to make work, that in theory produces enough power to make a cheap and clean and powerful fusion power plant.

We just do not have enough He-3 on Earth to produce a technology demonstration pilot plant. Can we scale up the laboratory process in a short period of time?

Nobody knows. In 1964 I opened one of my textbooks and saw a wondrous sight: a hydrogen-fusion-powered spacecraft, in which Americans would explore the galaxy. Fifty years later, that dream has died.

IMHO we should definitely try He-3/Deuterium Fusion, which means going to the moon and mining this resource. If it works out, we might keep our global civilization going another century, until there are 15 to 20 Billion of us trying to live on the surface of the Earth.

But....that's not the same as being saved, is it? At best, we kick the can down the road a far piece.

Incidentally, He-3 fusion is the topic of the 2009 movie Moon, starring Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey. Low budget but good. Sam plays the Lunar miner, mining He-3 from Lunar dust.

[MD]

lol

[Henriksson]

So a technology that is always thirty years ahead and a location extremely difficult to get to, and a resource available in extremely small and scattered quantities...

The future is cloudy, but our asses won't be saved by moon dust, I'm pretty sure of that.

[KaiserJeep]

I grant you that overall, its a long shot.

So you would reject a clean, carbon-free (in fact totally pollution-free) source of electrical power?

And I never said it will save us. This tech would just "kick the can" 50-100 years. Then we would have to deal with "peak Helium-3".