Lunacy
Published by MAC on 2006-01-25
Lunacy
25th January 2006
Last year, on this site, we foreshadowed not only increased efforts to mine the seabed but also the moon. Lo and behold...
Russia proposes mining helium-3 on Moon
MOSCOW. Jan 25 (Interfax) - Russia's Energia aerospace corporation is doing research on a project to mine helium-3, a potential fuel for future nuclear reactors, on the Moon and bring it to the Earth, and is due to finish the study before 2010, Energia President Nikolai Sevastyanov said on Wednesday.
The Earth's known hydrocarbon reserves will last mankind "50 to 100 years with the present-day rate of consumption," Sevastyanov told a meeting at the Bauman State Technological University in Moscow.
"There are practically no reserves of helium on the Earth. On the Moon, there are between 1 million and 500 million tonnes, according to various estimates," he said.