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India's space program wants to go where no nation has gone before – on the south side of the moon. And once it's there, it will study the potential of extracting a source of nuclear energy without waste that could be worth billions of dollars.
The national equivalent of NASA will launch a mobile in October to explore the virgin territory on the moon. surface and analyze the crust samples for signs of water and helium-3. This isotope is limited on Earth and yet so abundant on the Moon that it could theoretically meet the global energy demand of 250 years it is mined.
"Countries that have the ability to bring this source of the moon to Earth will dictate the process," said K Sivan, president of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). "I do not want to be just a part of them, I want to lead them."
The mission would consolidate India's place among the fleet of explorers who are heading to the Moon, Mars and beyond for scientific, commercial or military gains. Governments of the United States, China, India, Japan and Russia compete with startups and billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson to launch satellites, robotic undercarriages, astronauts and tourists in the cosmos.
in a series planned for ISRO that includes the orbiting of a space station and, potentially, an Indian crew on the moon. The government has not yet set a deadline
"We are ready and we are waiting," said Sivan, an aeronautical engineer who joined ISRO in 1982. "We have equipped ourselves to take support this particular program. " [19659002LaChineestleseulpaysàavoirposéunatterrisseuretunroversurlaluneaucoursdecesiècleavecsamissionChang'e3en2013Lanationprévoitderevenirplustardcetteannéeenenvoyantunesondesurlecôtélointaininexploré[19659007]. United States President Donald Trump has signed a directive asking astronauts to return to the moon, and the US $ 19 billion budget proposed by NASA for the launch of the lunar orbiter in the early 2020s.
ISRO's estimated budget is less than 10th This represents about 1.7 billion US dollars, but the achievement of cheap feats has been a feature of the agency since the years 1960.
The upcoming mission will cost about $ 125 million, less than a quarter of the co-founder of Snap Inc. Spiegel last year, according to the Bloomberg Pay Index, the highest rate for an executive director. A publicly traded company.
It will not be the first lunar mission in India. The Chandrayaan-1 craft, launched in October 2008, completed more than 3,400 orbits and ejected a probe that discovered water molecules in the surface for the first time.
The next launch of Chandrayaan-2 includes an orbiter, a lander and a rectangular rover. The six-wheeled vehicle, powered by solar energy, will collect information for at least 14 days and cover an area of 400 meters radius. The rover will send images to the LG, and the LG will forward them to ISRO for analysis.
However, one of the main objectives is to look for helium-3 deposits. The solar winds have bombarded the moon with huge amounts of helium-3 as they are not protected by a magnetic field like the Earth.
The presence of helium-3 was confirmed in the moon samples returned by the Apollo Missions and astronaut Schmitt, a geologist who stepped on the moon in December 1972, is a staunch supporter of The extraction of helium 3.
"It is thought that this isotope could provide safer nuclear energy in a fusion reactor because it is not radioactive." It is estimated that 1 million tons of helium-3 are incorporated into the moon, although only about a quarter of these quantities can be transported to Earth, "said Gerald Kulcinski., director of the Fusion Technology Institute of the 39, University of Wisconsin-Madison and former member of NASA's Advisory Board.
This is still sufficient to meet the current global energy needs of at least two Kulcinski says: He estimated the value of helium-3 at about 5 billion dollars a ton, which means that 2,000,000 tonnes would represent trillions of dollars.
Of course, many obstacles must be overcome before the equipment can be used. the logistics of collection and delivery on Earth and the construction of fusion power plants to convert the material into energy. "If this can be cracked, India should be part of this effort," said Lydia Powell, who heads the Center for Resources Management of the New Delhi-based think tank Observer Research Foundation. "If the cost makes sense, it will become a game changer, no doubt about it."
Moreover, it will not be easy to exploit the moon. The United States and Luxembourg have passed legislation allowing business entities to keep what they have extracted from space, said David Todd, space content manager at Seradata Ltd., based in Northampton. England. There is no international treaty on the issue. 19659002] "Finally, it will be like fishing in the sea in international waters," Todd said. "While a nation-state can not hold international waters, fish becomes the property of its fishermen once fished."
The Indian government responds to the influx of business ventures into space by drafting legislation on satellite launches, said GV Anand Bhushan, a Chennai-based partner at the law firm. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. This does not cover the exploitation of the moon. However, Rakesh Sharma, who spent nearly eight days aboard a Russian spacecraft in 1984, said nations and private companies should instead work together to develop human settlements elsewhere as the Earth lacks resources and faces potential disasters such as asteroid strikes.
"You can not go to the moon and draw boundaries," said Sharma. "I want India to show that we are able to use space technology for the good of people."
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