On Earth, the energy crisis is getting worse due to the increasing population. Therefore, some people have put forward the idea of building the moon into an energy base. Such an energy base would not only power the human lunar base, but also benefit the people of Earth.
In the early 1980s, a group of American scientists proposed a lunar mining program. They proposed to send about 60 tons of automated mechanical equipment to the moon, including a small electromagnetic mining equipment, a can be mined from the moon in the processing of ore from the silicon equipment, a silicon manufacturing, assembly into solar cells equipment, and a can produce more of the above automated equipment, "mother machine". This "mother machine" can utilize the energy provided by the solar cells and the raw materials provided by the mining machinery to produce second- and third-generation mining machinery and solar cells, and expand reproduction. According to their estimates, the realization of this plan requires about 5 billion U.S. dollars, is the "Apollo" moon landing program 1 / 5.
The development of the moon's vision of the use of the moon's energy, scientists agreed that the future of the moon exploration and research will focus toward four goals: ① the global distribution of the moon's energy and the use of the program The scientists agreed that the future exploration and research on the Moon will focus on four objectives: ① research on the global distribution and utilization of lunar energy; ② research on the global distribution and utilization of lunar mineral resources; ③ research on the development and utilization of the special space environment resources of the Moon (ultra-high vacuum, no atmospheric activity, no magnetic field, stable geological structure, weak gravity, no pollution); ④ research on the preferred location, construction plan and implementation of the establishment of lunar bases.
Scientists also believe that the countries of the world should unite to jointly establish a permanent lunar base within the last 20 to 30 years to develop and utilize the Moon for the sustainable development of mankind.
The moon is the wealth of mankind*** and the exploration of the universe is the desire of mankind*** which will bring happiness to all mankind. As the second American astronaut Aldrin said: "For those who look up at the night sky from the rotating Earth, the moon is evenly sprinkled with silver light, and it is never too thick for one and too thin for the other. It is our hope, therefore, that the fruits of space exploration will also be shared by all, thus bringing harmony to the whole of mankind."
Development of lunar solar energy resources to the Earth's solar energy, about 1 / 3 by the Earth's atmosphere reflected into space, the remaining less than 2 / 3 to suffer from the Earth's atmosphere of the scattering and absorption, etc., to reach the Earth's surface is only a small part of the moon is different, there is no atmosphere on the surface of the solar radiation can be a long drive into the solar radiation energy within the scope of the moon each year to reach the moon, about 12 trillion kilowatts of solar radiation. The moon is different, there is no atmosphere on the surface, the solar radiation can go straight in.
Scientists envision the establishment of an extremely large solar photovoltaic array on the moon, which would gather a large amount of sunlight to generate electricity, and then transmit the generated electricity to Earth in the form of microwaves. In order to solve the problem that the microwave beam has a relatively large dispersion angle and is difficult to be received by the receiving antenna on the ground, the microwave excitation technology can be used (microwave excitation, also known as pulsed, which does not have a dispersive beam).
A day and a black day on the moon each lasts about 2 weeks on Earth. In order to provide continuous power supply, a solar power station can be built on the moon every 120 degrees of longitude, or on the front and back of the moon, and then linked to form a grid, which can ensure continuous and stable power generation of the entire power grid.
Silicon is the main material used to make solar arrays, and the moon is rich in silicon reserves and has an ultra-vacuum, low-gravity environment that can produce high-quality silicon photovoltaic cells.
Other materials needed for the construction of lunar solar power stations, such as aluminum, titanium, iron, tungsten and copper, can be extracted from the moon, but processing and production equipment needs to be sent to the moon from Earth.
Mining helium-3
What is helium
Let's start with a brief overview: in Earth's natural world, two isotopes of helium 3 (helium-3) and helium 4 (helium-4) exist.The nucleus of helium 4 has two protons and two neutrons, called bosons, while helium 3 has only one neutron, called a fermion.In the late 1930s, Kapicha discovered helium 4's superfluidity. Landau explained this phenomenon theoretically by arguing that when the temperature is at an absolute temperature of 2.17 K, 4 helium atoms undergo Bose Einstein condensation and become superfluid, whereas fermions like 3 helium can't undergo condensation even at the lowest energies, and so the phenomenon of superfluidity is not possible. The formulation of the theory of superconductivity of metals (BcS theory) has led to the idea that superfluidity may also be formed in3 He at very low temperatures. But people have not been able to experimentally discover superfluidity in3 He. In the 1970s, the Cornell Cryogenics Group, led by David Lee, made the first discovery of superfluidity in3 He, and their findings were soon confirmed by other research groups.
The discovery of 3-helium superfluidity has had curious applications in astrophysics. 3He superfluids produced by phase transitions have been used to test theories about how so-called cosmic strings form in the universe. The team used neutrino-induced nuclear reactions to locally and rapidly heat the superfluid 3 He, and when they recooled, a number of vortex balls formed. These vortex balls are equivalent to cosmic strings. Although this result cannot be taken as evidence for the existence of cosmic strings, it can be regarded as a verification of the theory of vortex formation in 3 helium liquid.The discovery of 3 helium superfluid not only promoted the research of condensed matter physics, but also the method of magnetic **** vibration used in the process of this discovery pioneered the use of magnetic **** vibration technology to carry out tomographic tests, and today magnetic **** vibration tomographic tests have been developed into a common means of medical treatment and diagnosis. Today, magnetic *** vibration tomography has developed into a universal means of medical diagnosis.
Where is the magic of helium-3
Helium-3 is an isotope of helium. It contains two protons and one neutron. It has many special properties. When helium-3 and helium-4 are mixed in a certain ratio, the temperature can be lowered to near absolute zero by dilution refrigeration theory. At temperatures below 2.18 degrees Celsius, helium-3 in its liquid state also appears to "superfluidize", i.e., it has no viscosity, and it can even "crawl" out of the cup in which it is contained. However, it is helium-3's potential as an energy source that is currently most appreciated. Helium-3 can undergo a fusion reaction with deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, but unlike normal fusion reactions, helium-3 produces no neutrons during the fusion process, so it is less radioactive, and the process is easy to control, making it both environmentally friendly and safe.
Exploiting helium-3
Exploiting helium-3 in lunar soil will be one of the most promising ways to solve the human energy crisis.
Since the 1990s, mankind has set off a new round of lunar exploration climax, in which helium-3 has become the same target for the world***. However, the formation and distribution characteristics, reserves and applications of lunar helium-3 are still urgent problems in lunar scientific research, and only through a large number of probes and return to the lunar field fieldwork can we obtain a more satisfactory answer.
1. Mechanism of helium-3 formation
The soil on the lunar surface is composed of rock fragments, powders, breccias, and glass beads, and its structure is loose and quite soft. The soil in the lunar sea area is generally 4 to 5 meters thick, and the soil in the highlands is thicker, but not more than 10 meters. The particle size of lunar soils varies over a wide range, ranging from several centimeters in size to as little as a millimeter or micron in size, and these fine soils are generally referred to as moon dust. Fine breccias and glass beads, which make up about 70% of the lunar soil, and small granular basalts and gabbros make up about 13%. Noble gases are very low in lunar basalt and highland breccias, and even lower, almost zero, in the atmosphere. However, elemental hydrogen is quite abundant in lunar soil and breccias. This is due to the injection of solar wind, which is actually a steady stream of particles continuously ejected outward from the Sun. 1965 direct measurements of the chemical composition of the solar wind by the Venera 3 rocket showed that the solar wind particles consisted primarily of hydrogen ions and to a lesser extent helium ions. This hydrogen element is present in the lunar soil over a range of tens of meters due to the mixing of the lunar soil material caused by the impact of foreign objects on the lunar surface. The depth at which solar ions are injected into the surface of an object is usually less than 0.2 micrometers. As a result, these elements are most abundant in the finest particles of the lunar soil, where most of the injected gas particles accumulate and bond into lunar soil breccias or cluster in the interior of glass beads. Most of the helium is concentrated in ilmenite-rich moon soil smaller than 50 microns.
2. Prospects for the utilization of helium-3
The amount of electricity generated by helium-3 on the Moon is equivalent to 40,000 times the amount of electricity generated in the United States in 1985, and the energy payback ratio for helium-3 is estimated to be as high as 1:250, taking into account the costs of mining, venting, isotope separation, and transportation of the lunar soil back to Earth. This payback ratio compares favorably with the production of nuclear fuel from uranium-235 (1:20) and coal mining on Earth (payback ratio of about 1:16).
In addition, extracting 1 ton of helium-3 from lunar soil yields about 6,300 tons of hydrogen, 70 tons of nitrogen, and 1,600 tons of carbon. These byproducts are also necessary to maintain a permanent base on the moon. According to Russian scientist Galimov, every year mankind only needs to launch 2 to 3 spacecraft with a load of 10 tons to bring back a large amount of helium-3 from the Moon for all mankind to use as an alternative energy source for one year, and its transportation cost is only a few tenths of the current cost of nuclear power generation. According to Galimov, if mankind were to embark on a program to mine helium-3 from the moon now, in about 30 or 40 years, mankind would be able to achieve field mining of lunar helium-3 and transport it back to the surface, and the total cost of the program would be in the range of $25 million to $30 million.
Some people have suggested that instead of transporting helium-3 back to Earth, could a nuclear energy base be established directly on the Moon, where it would be transmitted via electrical power to interruptor satellites in geostationary orbit, then to receiving stations located on Earth, and then distributed to various regions for use by users? Scientists predict that it would be much more difficult to set up a nuclear power plant on the moon and keep it working properly than it would be to bring back the raw material, helium-3, from the moon to generate electricity on Earth.
The Chang'e 1 satellite carries a lunar exploration instrument that detects the thickness and elemental content of the moon's soil as an important part of the exploration satellite's work. Helium-3, as the most promising new energy source, is also an important part of China's exploration satellite's work to obtain information on its resources.
Exploiting the moon's mineral treasures
Scientists have proposed a variety of mining programs for the lunar base, including borrowing mining technology and mining equipment from Earth, and computer-controlled remotely operated mining systems. Lunar mining will be realized in phases: the first phase will begin with experimental studies of exploration and mining; the second phase will build the infrastructure needed for mining, such as transporting exploration, construction and mining equipment components from Earth to the lunar base for assembly, building mining sites and carrying out small-scale operations: mining operations will be expanded in the third phase; and the fourth phase will see the construction of a state-of-the-art lunar mining base, with miners working in a control room and remotely controlled robots to carry out larger-scale operations. control room to remotely control robots for larger scale mining.
At present, the United States is discussing the construction program of the future lunar metallurgical industry. It is estimated that the first metallurgical plants will appear on the moon by about 2025. Producing a variety of metal parts and liquid oxygen for the construction of lunar bases, solar power stations, space stations and other spacecraft.
Moon mining will be a highly automated process, usually unmanned, with astronauts inspecting and maintaining the mining equipment at intervals. Mining equipment on the moon is different from that on Earth in many ways, most of which are remote-controlled mining robots, powered by electricity, able to withstand the harsh lunar environment, and modularized for easy replacement of parts and maintenance. Mining robots can be "multi-specialized", in addition to completing the "job", but also can undertake some general-purpose tasks, such as lifting, hauling and so on. Due to the lunar gravitational acceleration is only 1/6 of the earth, the object with the same mass as the earth is much lighter in the lunar surface, so the energy consumption of lunar surface transportation is very low. For operations with large mining volumes, it is necessary to use movable processing equipment such as mobile processing plants to avoid large amounts of raw material transportation in order to improve mining efficiency.