Should we mine the moon for clean energy?

Question

I was watching a show and they said that the moon has tons of hydrogen three which is a clean and very powerful form of energy.

Answer 1

There is plenty of Tritium on Earth, much of it powering emergency lighting systems around the world; we don't need to go to the moon to get it. It could be a powerful source of energy if we knew how to control it. But we don't know how to control a large scale fusion reaction: we can make a bomb from H-3 but Cold Fusion is a long way off yet.

Answer 2

The moon should not be mined for "clean energy" to use on earth. However, the future potential of moon mining should be studied. Hydrogen is located on the moon under/in the soil. But, we still need to determine what form the hydrogen in. (Is it ice? Is it mineral? Or, is it free proton hydrogen?) Next year, 2008, NASA has a planned mission that should determine the hydrogen form by analyzing hydrogen in moon dust collected after chunks of steel are basically smashed into a moon crater.

After the hydrogen type and quantity are better defined, then mining plans can be developed to extract (mine) hydrogen from the moon. In 2006, Popular Science magazine has a write-up and video clip titled “Mining the Moon.” At the following link, there is a photo of NASA’s “Moon-Mining Craft” and a video of NASA efforts to mine hydrogen from the lunar soil.

Answer 3

I once worked (briefly) on a NASA project that was an adjunct to the big lunar mining issue. It was truly fascinating. I believe that you may be going a little too far with your thinking though...probably because of that TV show you mentioned.

The hydrogen on the moon is locked up in minerals, and in fact, can be liberated for use as a fuel...on the moon. It would still be WAY too expensive to try and use the moon as an energy source for us. However, just a little chemistry will allow lunar bases to be fairly self-sufficient. The hydrogen and liberated oxygen can be combined to make water, and the oxygen is certainly breathable. This will still require a lot of energy to do, so the net result is that any moon operations will require more energy than it can produce.

Still, who knows what might be possible some day?

Answer 4

No! Why should we mine the moon when we have plenty of our own resources here, eg wind power?! We would be using an energy that
a) we cant entirely be certain would work as we wish and safley too
b) we wouldnt know the effects of mining, in terms of the moons cycle etc etc
c) would we really know how to gather it and get it back to earth??
sounds like more hassle than necessary to me!!!

Answer 5

It takes massive amounts of energy to send things into space.

Most spacecraft also contain radioactive materials.

The Cassini space probe had 33 trillion nanograms of plutonium-238(10 nanograms is deadly 50% of the time), and the rocket carrying it had a 1/456 chance(by Nasa estimates, others estimated it at 1/20) of exploding at liftoff(it has happened before). There was also a chance that the probe could crash into the earth due to error(a mars mission failed because someone forgot to convert standard to metric).

Also, the moon is extremely important to life on earth and should there be a big problem, everything would be thrown out of whack here on earth.

Answer 6

Considering we are having trouble even getting a mission into orbit without major problems, I would guess that the possibility of mining the moon would just be a pipe dream. The cost alone would make it unprofitable. Just because China wants to exploit everything it can in an effort to take over the world, doesn't mean that it is a good idea or even feasable.

On a side note, removing mass from the moon could throw off the tidal pull and be devastating for coastal regions and the people and animals who depend on the ebb and flow of the tides to survive.

Answer 7

Ur notion is great. Mining da moon could supply a lot of minerals.

But like all the ideas of great men,ur wish could also turn out 2 be disastrous if not imlemented properly. The mining should be done in a sustainable manner.

Mining in Mars wouldbe a better option as the minerals are available in plenty and more closer 2 da surface- specially iron.

Answer 8

Yeah, Great idea. I think you guys should relocate to the moon, since Earth is in such grave danger. You can drive hybrid spaceships, and elect Democrat presidents until the end of time. Leave us Republicans to go down in the Great fire.

Answer 9

I'm afraid that Al "Carnival Barker" Gore would go on a rant that this would cause "Lunar Warming." And then Michael "I Never Miss A Meal" Moore would have to make a movie. We better leave the moon alone. Let's keep focused on the important things, like environmentally safe pens, and plastic water bottles.

Answer 10

I think the majority of the moon -- our moon -- should be dedicated as an international park. But if cost-effective mining can be done in the future, then that option should be seriously explored.