Russia plans to put a mine on the Moon to help boost energy supply

Russia has staked out plans to recapture its Soviet-era space-race glory and start mining the Moon for a promising energy resource that scientists say could meet the Earth’s power needs for more than a thousand years.

Nikolai Sevastyanov, head of Russia’s giant Energia Space Corporation, has unveiled plans to build a permanent base on the Moon within a decade and to start mining the planet for helium 3, a sought-after isotope, by 2020.

The idea would be to use helium 3 to power thermo-nuclear power stations, harnessing its potency to achieve nuclear fusion.

The technology to exploit helium 3 is still under development, but it has been touted by a significant academic school of thought as “the ideal fuel of the future” with several countries expressing interest. The race is now on to be the first to make it work.

The Independent