A daunting new mission to the Moon was launched Tuesday by the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA). Chang’e-1 blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, Sichuan, atop a Long March 3A rocket -the first step in the Chinese ambition to land robotic explorers on the Moon before 2020.
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"Helium-3 is considered as a long-term, stable, safe, clean and cheap material for human beings to get nuclear energy through controllable nuclear fusion experiments," Ziyuan added. "If we human beings can finally use such energy material to generate electricity, then China might need 10 tons of helium-3 every year and in the world, about 100 tons of helium-3 will be needed every year."
Helium 3 fusion energy - classic Buck Rogers propulsion system- may be the key to future space exploration and settlement, requiring less radioactive shielding, lightening the load. Scientists estimate there are about one million tons of helium 3 on the moon, enough to power the world for thousands of years. The equivalent of a single space shuttle load or roughly 25 tons could supply the entire United States' energy needs for a year.
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2007/10/chinas-new-moon.html
My comment: The moon is full of energy that, if harnessed, could alleviate untold human suffering in the energy crunch that the
world has begun to experience, as we deplete the accessible resources in this planet.
I confess that this makes me a little bit upset that it is China doing this and not us. The potential payoff is quite literally astronomical. What really twists the knife is that WE thought of this - why aren't we the ones doing it?
Cross reference:
US: UW scientists want to mine moon energy
http://www.energybulletin.net/node/192
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