2007-01-29 23:50:44 · 8 answers · asked by mai 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
We could someday, but it won't be economical until we have the technology for thermonuclear fusion on a large scale up and running.
2007-01-30 01:07:03 · answer #1 · answered by Keith P 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Helium is not a good source of power. Some people hypothesize than we could make better fusion reactors that use helium-3, which is a rare isotope of regular helium, as the fuel, but nobody has even figured out how to make a regular hydrogen fusion reactor yet, much less the helium-3 reactor, which would be about 10 times harder to make. The worlds governments have spent many billions of dollars and decades of research to make a regular hydrogen fusion reactor and have not succeed yet. And even if a helium-3 reactor existed, helium-3 is rarer than gold, even on the Moon. It is more common on the Moon than on the Earth, but as they say, twice nothing is still nothing, so there is not enough of it the Moon to make it worth going there.
2007-01-30 01:07:03 · answer #2 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
First of all, Helium-3 is worthless as a power source unless you have a fusion reactor. So there's no point in doing this for another 50 years or so. Second, although there appears to be more He 3 on the moon than on earth, it's concentration is only .01 PPM in the lunar crust. So you would need to mine a whole lot of moon in order to produce a bit of helium. Although you wouldn't need all that much, the cost would be enormous.
2007-01-30 00:10:33 · answer #3 · answered by anywherebuttexas 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Helium is not a good source of power. It's basically inert and reacts with nothing. Even if it were it would cost a fortune to bring back from the moon and there's no indication that there's an abundant quantity there. Where did you get your information from? It sounds inaccurate
2007-01-29 23:56:16 · answer #4 · answered by Gene 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
We can't get power from Helium. There is extremely little on the moon, although it is the second most common element in the universe after Hydrogen. Check your sources!
2007-01-29 23:58:34 · answer #5 · answered by CLICKHEREx 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Considering the $billions which costs just to sent a few astronauts to the moon, helium in large quantity to be mined and brought to earth will cost a million times more expensive to us.
We could consider this option the day we are totally out of oil, energy from the sun and out of water.
2007-01-30 00:00:29 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Since when is helium, a noble gas, a source of power? And who said there was a gas, any atmosphere, on the moon?
I think we can mine the green cheese and feed the poor.
2007-01-29 23:54:24 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
There's no Helium on the moon !
2007-01-29 23:55:19 · answer #8 · answered by Timbo 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋