This investigation refers to a new source of energy called Helium-3. Helium-3 is a rare isotope of Helium, found in very small quantities on Earth. The problem is finding an abundant source of it, which might be the moon where large quantities accumulated over billions of years. There are scientists who opine that Helium-3 could be mined and brought from the moon at a cost-effective price, given that Helium-3 can be so efficiently transformed into energy. Helium-3 is also a cleaner, or even a nuclear waste-free source of energy, depending on the fusion process chosen. What is Helium-3?
Helium-3 (He-3 or 3He) is a light, non-radioactive isotope of Helium with two protons and one neutron. Isotopes are variants of a particular chemical element such that, while all isotopes of a given element have the same number of protons in each atom, they differ in neutron number. Helium-3 is emitted by the sun, and it is very rare on Earth because the atmosphere of the Earth doesn’t let a large quantity of Helium-3 pass. However, the lunar soil has been absorbing Helium-3 for billions of years, and it has significant quantities of it.
Although theoretically helium-3 could be obtained and processed efficiently to produce clean or even nuclear waste-free energy, it is not a readily available technology today. However, the future of Helium-3 is promising and so continued investigation is well warranted.
Where can we get Helium-3 from?
While it can be found on Earth in a natural state, quantities are very low, no higher than 0.000137%. The moon has large quantities of Helium-3, as current analyses indicate that there are at least 1 million metric tons embedded in the lunar surface. About half the Helium-3 is deposited in a portion of about 20% of th...
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... for the effectiveness of other kinds of energy:
• http://phys.org/news/2013-09-world-solar-cell-efficiency.html
• http://www.globalwindday.org/faq/how-efficient-are-wind-turbines/
New York Times article “China Plans Its First Unmanned Moon Landing This Year” by Chris Buckley on august 28, 2013http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/29/world/asia/china-plans-first-unmanned-landing-on-moon.html?_r=0
MIT technology review article “India's Space Ambitions Soar” by mark Williams on July 30, 2007 http://www.technologyreview.com/news/408323/indias-space-ambitions-soar/
China View, Article “China plans moon landing around 2017” made on May 11, 2005 http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-11/05/content_3733767.htm
Pravda, article “Russia to launch industrial mining of helium-3 on the Moon in 2020” 17 of march, 2006 http://english.pravda.ru/science/tech/17-03-2006/77404-moon-0/
We choose to go to the Moon. (2014, May 5). Wikipedia. Retrieved May 6, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_choose_to_go_to_the_Moon
Mufson, S. (1998) “China not Going to Devalue Currency , U.S. Official Says”, Washington Post, A17.
Borenstein, Seth. "NASA Commissions Book to Prove Moon Landing Really Happened." KRT News Service. Nov. 1 2002: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 09 Apr. 2014.
Apollo 11 landed safely on the moon on July 20, 1969. Neil Armstrong stated that this was, “One small step for man; but one giant leap for mankind. Conspiracy theorists claim that there was no actual moon landing and it was all faked. The reader will conclude that these are merely just theories and that there was in fact a moon landing. Apparently a colossal 25% of Americans believe that the moon landing is a hoax and not fact. Motivation for this large hoax was to beat Russia in the Space Race, and to intimidate them during the Cold War. Sputnik was launched into orbit and people claim that the USA was so behind that they needed to fake the moon landing, one of the most prolific moments in modern history. Claiming that there is no moon landing
1. "Man Takes First Steps on the Moon" was a news article published from the Times of London. The purpose of this text was to inform the general public of the historic moon landing in 1969, and to also describe the first steps on the moon.
Ming, Xia. “China threat or a peaceful rise of China”, The New York Times, March, 2006.Web.
In the past scientists have been looking into solar and electrically powered vehicles to aid in the reduction of pollutants. Only recently has boron been introduced as another feasible alternative fuel. This alternative to gasoline is extremely combustible, and when burned there are no emissions or harmful pollutants. Also, it's easy to dispose of and has an extremely high energy density (Young 1). This little known element has become more recognized for its unique properties.
1.Thinkquest, (2006). Fusion: Future Energy. Retrieved August 1, 2007, from Energy Matters Web site: http://library.thinkquest.org/20331/types/fusion/advant.html
We choose to go to the moon. By John Kennedy. Rice University, Houston. 12 September 1962.
One Friday night, the Parker family gathered around their 1962 television to watch the nightly news. When watching, the news reporter described the near future plans for the trip to the moon. The family, thinking quietly to themselves, had much doubt in their minds. The father turned to his wife in confusion and said “People on the moon? That is crazy! I have never heard of such a thing.”
It makes up 13% of the planet's mass and a large fraction of the planet's mantle.
Sullivan, Walter. "Scientists Wonder if Shot Nears Moon." New York Times, November 5, 1957. [URL] Accessed May 22, 2003.
Uranium was discovered by Martin Heinrich Klaproth, a German chemist, in the mineral pitchblende (primarily a mix of uranium oxides) in 1789.Klaproth, as well as the rest of the scientific community, believed that the substance he extracted from pitchblende was pure uranium, it was actually uranium dioxide (UO2). After noticing that 'pure' uranium reacted oddly with uranium tetrachloride (UCl4), Radioactivity was first discovered in 1896 when Antoine Henri Becquerel, a French physicist, detected it from a sample of uranium. Today, uranium is obtained from uranium ores such as pitchblende, uraninite , carnotite and autunite as well as from phosphate rock , lignite (brown coal) and monazite sand . Since there is little demand for uranium metal, uranium is usually sold in the form of sodium diuranate , also known as yellow cake, or triuranium octoxide).
Though it was one of the three first elements (together with helium and hydrogen) to be synthesized in the Big Bang, lithium, together with beryllium and boron are markedly less abundant than other nearby elements. This is a result of the low temperature necessary to destroy lithium, and a lack of common processes to produce it.[34]
First, the shortage of helium will have numerous causes and effects on today’s world. The cost will have a huge impact on purchases that use helium. For instance, the pric...