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The Indian Space Research Organization has revealed that it will launch a lunar mission to explore this southern side of the moon in October
Chandrayaan 2 Mission
The Chandrayaan-2 mission is India's second lunar mission and will mark the first time that a country has visited the south side of the moon.
The mission includes a lander, an orbiter and a rectangular rover powered by solar energy. The data collected by the rover will be sent to the LG, who will then forward them to ISRO for analysis.
The Chandrayaan-2 six-wheeled rover will analyze the lunar crust to find traces of water and helium-3, a crucial isotope for the development of fusion energy on Earth .
"The mission will carry a six-wheeled Rover that will move to the landing site in semi-autonomous mode according to Ground Command Decisions," said ISRO. "The instruments on the rover will observe the lunar surface and return data, which will be useful for lunar soil analysis."
Helium-3
Countries and companies around the world wish to exploit the helium-3 hope that the isotope can be used in a kind of nuclear fusion that does not produce radioactive waste, which could provide safer nuclear energy.
Nuclear fusion is a process that feeds the sun. It involves breaking down hydrogen atoms to produce helium and release massive amounts of energy. Once the melting energy is captured, it could serve as an unlimited source of energy on our planet.
The isotope is already produced on Earth and is currently used to detect illicit radioactive material. Unfortunately, helium-3 is rare and very expensive. Gerald Kulcinski, a former member of the NASA Advisory Board, estimated his value at about $ 5 billion per ton
The moon, however, has a lot of this isotope. The solar winds were able to bombard the Earth's natural satellite with a massive amount of helium-3 as it is not protected by a magnetic field. The presence of the isotope on the moon has been confirmed in samples returned by the Apollo Missions
About 1 million metric tons of helium-3 is probably integrated with the moon, but only a quarter could eventually be brought back to Earth
. ] The hunt for helium-3 deposits on the moon
India seems to be among those who are on the front line in the research and possible exploitation of helium-3 for fusion energy. China is the only country to have sent a robot on the moon during this century and one of its aims is to find helium-3 deposits on the lunar surface.
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