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European scientists have announced plans to start exploiting the moon as early as 2025, although what they will extract is neither gold nor diamonds, but waste-free nuclear energy valued at trillions of dollars.
The goal is to place a lander on the lunar surface to extract and process the regoliths of useful materials such as water, oxygen, metals and an isotope called helium-3, which could be Prove useful for fueling future fusion reactors.
regolith, Universe today reported, is a dust-like material that covers the lunar surface and is the result of billions of years of meteor and comet impacts. If someone lives on the moon, he could use the regolith to create habitats for a base.
Europe is not the only one to embark on the lunar mining train. India and China have both brainstormed about the extraction of helium-3 from the Earth's natural satellite.
The mission will be in charge of the European Space Agency in partnership with ArianeGroup, Popular mechanics reported. It will also count with the participation of part-time scientists, a German group and former competitor of Google Lunar XPrize.
Europe is not the only one to embark on the lunar mining train. India and China have both brainstormed about the extraction of helium-3 from the Earth's natural satellite. Beijing has already landed twice on the moon in the 21st century, with other missions to come.
There would be about a million tonnes of helium-3 on the moon, but only 25% of it could be brought back to Earth, Gerald Kulcinski, director of the Fusion Technology Institute at the University of Wisconsin. Madison and former member of NASA. Advisory Board said Bloomberg last year. Related: Buffett still not sold on Bitcoin
But that's enough to meet current global energy needs for at least two, if not five centuries, said the expert, who estimates that helium-3 is worth nearly $ 5 billion a tonne.
More science fiction
After being considered primarily as a science fiction tale, governments are now rushing to implement programs and legislation to join the space mining race.
In 2015, former US President Barack Obama signed a law that gives American citizens the right to own resources extracted in space. The revolutionary rule has been touted as a major asset for asteroid mining as it encourages commercial exploration and the use of asteroid resources obtained by US companies.
Geologists believe that asteroids are filled with iron ore, nickel and precious metals at much higher concentrations than those found on Earth, constituting an estimated trillion dollar market.
Shortly after, Luxembourg launched a formal initiative to promote the exploitation of asteroids for the extraction of minerals. This small European country, which studies a possible implication in the sector since 2013, aims to become the European center of the space industry.
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Canada is also looking at the moon. Last year, Deltion Innovations, established in northern Ontario, is associated with Moon Express, the first US private space exploration company to obtain permission from the government allowing it to travel beyond the Earth's orbit, for future opportunities in space.
Among the space projects in the works are projects for asteroid extraction, space debris tracing, construction of the first human settlement on Mars, and billionaire Elon Musk's plan for an unmanned mission on the Red Planet.
Geologists and emerging companies, such as Planetary Resources, a US-based pioneering space extraction company, say asteroids are packed with iron ore, nickel and precious metals at much higher concentrations than those found on Earth in the billions of dollars.
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