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Rare earth elements and helium are just some of the resources that scientists believe are abundant on the moon. The problem is how to get them here. Rockets are not profitable, otherwise we would have already colonized our natural satellite. However, there is an alternative to rockets and this could be feasible now: a lunar lift.
Two astronomy students from the University of Cambridge and Columbia University recently published an article on an invention called Spaceline, a space elevator that could be built with existing technology and would only cost about a billion dollars. And it would be easy to build.
"By extending a line, anchored to the moon, to the bottom of the gravity well of the Earth, we can build a stable, traversable cable that allows free movement from the Earth's vicinity to the Moon's surface. With the current materials, it is possible to build a cable extending to a height close to that of the geostationary orbit, thus allowing an easy crossing and construction between the Earth and the Moon, "write Zephyr Penoyre and Emily Sandford in the summary of their paper.
A cable leading to the moon may seem like a drawing, but Penoyre and Sandford do not joke. According to their idea, the travelers who would go on the Moon would go to the end of the cable aboard a spacecraft, then would be transferred to autonomous vehicles powered by solar energy, who would climb it. on the moon. The cable itself could not be thicker than the lead of a pencil and made from Kevlar, which is much cheaper than other materials considered a space lift.
Of course, the question everybody would ask is: why bother building a space elevator to the moon? While the Moon contains potentially valuable minerals, we have not yet determined whether their exploitation is commercially viable. But there is another reason why a fairly cheap space lift might make sense: helium-3.
Many believe that helium-3 is the solution to the problem of nuclear fusion, namely how to make it work. The element is rare on Earth but it is thought that it is abundant on the moon, with several governments considering mining in order to get their hands on it. The reason is that helium-3 is a potentially much more efficient fuel for nuclear fusion reactors than the one currently available to researchers on Earth. Combined with deuterium – already used in nuclear fusion reactors – it is transformed into ordinary helium with a single proton as a by-product, which means a lot less waste of energy compared to other elements. In addition, a deuterium-helium-3 fusion reaction would be much easier to contain. Related: This "solar panel" could generate darkness energy
Yet not everyone shares the enthusiasm generated by helium-3. A critic, Ian Crawford, professor of planetary sciences and astrobiology, compared helium-3 to fossil fuels.
"It's a fossil fuel reserve.As for extracting all the coal or extracting all the oil, once you've extracted it … c & # 39; "went away," Crawford told Space.com a few years ago. According to him, the extraction of helium-3 on the Moon would require massive investments that would not justify the effort as a whole. As technology continues to evolve and previously expensive infrastructures become less and less expensive due to this fact, investment in the extraction of helium-3 may not be needed. To be so huge.
However, the space line has not yet proven its viability.
"A space elevator is like a railroad – you do not build it unless you expect a lot of rail traffic," physicist Marshall Eubanks told NBC News. And this is only a commercial problem. A much bigger problem is security: satellites in orbit around the Earth could collide with the cable.
These are just a few potential problems with Spaceline and other moon lift ideas. Because of these problems, it is not surprising that space agencies were not so enthusiastic about linking the Earth to the moon via an elevator. It seems that despite the promises of such ideas, it will take some time before getting your hands on lunar 3-helium.
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By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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