Since the 1990s, including China, Israel, Japan, India and other countries, humanity has launched a new round of lunar exploration craze. In this lunar exploration craze, there is a mysterious element that has become the common goal of the world, and that is – helium-3.
Helium-3 is an isotope of helium, containing two protons and one neutron. Helium-3 originally existed in large quantities in the high-energy particle stream ejected by the sun – the solar wind. On the moon, where there is almost no atmosphere, the solar wind directly falls on the lunar surface. Over time, the content of helium-3 in the sand grains and rocks on the lunar surface accumulates more and more, becoming an important component of the lunar soil.
What attracts humans most about helium-3 is its excellent “potential” as an energy material. Deuterium and helium-3 can undergo nuclear fusion. This kind of fusion does not produce neutrons, so it has low radioactivity. Moreover, the reaction process is easy to control and can be regarded as both pollution-free and safe. Helium-3 can not only be used in ground-based nuclear power plants, but is also particularly suitable as fuel for rockets and spacecraft for space travel. For every ton of helium-3 extracted from lunar soil, 6,300 tons of hydrogen, 70 tons of nitrogen and 1,600 tons of carbon can be obtained.
According to experts’ calculations, if helium-3 nuclear fusion is adopted for power generation, the total annual power generation in the United States only requires 25 tons of helium-3. In 1992, the total annual power generation in China only required 8 tons of helium-3, while 100 tons of helium-3 worldwide in a year would be sufficient. Based on the current global electricity prices and space transportation costs, the value of one ton of helium-3 is approximately 4 billion US dollars. Moreover, with the development of space technology, the cost of space transportation is bound to decrease significantly. Recently, French scientists announced that by 2030, nuclear fusion power generation using helium-3 will be commercialized. It is estimated that there are 3 to 5 million tons of helium-3 reserves on the moon, which can support the electricity of the Earth for 7,000 years!
In addition, helium-3 also has extensive supernatural powers in military, medical and other fields. No wonder 1 gram of helium-3 is more than thirty times more valuable than 1 gram of gold!
Post time: May-19-2025