How moon rocks could power the future

The one thing not mentioned is the large amounts of water formed as a byproduct of H-3 extraction. The Moon may be dryer than any desert but hydrogen from the solar wind and oxygen from mineral oxides are very abundant.

From United States Patent 20020066288 class A1

0041] An additional benefit of Moon-based He-3 mining is that the refining process, in addition to producing He-3, will produce by-products of water, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and other elements needed to make a manned Moon-colony self-sustaining. Having little atmosphere or gravity, a Moon-colony should then be an ideal space station from which to launch further space exploration. It would be very attractive to refuel space ships where the fuel is located, rather than transporting the fuel to a space station.

At the time of this Patent App. estimated total cost would equal $8.00 per barrel of oil equivalent. The SST (truck) could haul a years power for the US in one load.

Could be why we are not back to the Moon yet

Brad

When I worked on the International Space Station in Houston there was talk using the Moon for launching vehicles to Mars. I never saw the math but the conclusion was that it took more delta V to use the Moon rather than skip it.

Logically this is how I thought of it... If you consider the bodies involved you realize the you have to push a vehicle out of Earth's gravity well all the way to the point where the Moon's gravity equals the Earth's. Then the vehicle would have to travel down the Moon's gravity well and expend fuel landing. Then the vehicle would have to expend fuel to get back up the Moon's gravity well. The energy required for this is more than is required to just leave Earth.

The Moon really makes sense as a launching pad only if the materials for the vehicle originate somewhere other than the Earth.

If memory serves my right it takes an extra 18,000 fps in your delta Vs to land and get back out of the Moons gravity well and headed back to earth. The V2 could reach the Earth from the Moon with a 2000lb payload.

The energy available on the Moon from is much higher than on Earth. Over 400 deg C from light to shade. Light metals in the form of oxides cover the surface.

The investment would be high but the solar system would open up to us.

I wouldn't want to live on the moon, but in it is a different matter.

Brad

The theory of "bringing back He₃ to Planet Earth", to fuel people's energy-squandering habits just makes me shudder.

The best use is to use that resource, to explore the Solar System. IMHO.

Kind Regards....

Hey there, Down Under. In addition, I don't see any energy or materials balance for the thousands of tons of rocket fuels, solid propellants, heavy metals that would be used to bring a relatively small amount of "Moon Rocks" back to Earth. Why not go farming for some far out water-rich asteroids or comets and use the hydrogen from that water for fuel, plus release the oxygen into our depleated atmosphere? When dreaming, go for broke.

Very true but I don't expect our governments to look for a balanced system, their budgets are a prime example of that. Greed and public out cry seem to be their only motivators as a whole. Public out cry interferes with their greed.

Many public servants think they are doing a good job but look the other way when other public servants abuse the system. Peer pressure vs integrity.

Brad

"Public out cry interferes with their greed."

Isn't that a form of our system of "checks and balances"? The lobbyists write the checks, and the outraged public balances the checkbooks through taxes...

Ouch! the truth doth hurt

Yes but severely hindered by our compliance, er I mean public school system.

Brad