China Claims to have material for nuclear fusion from the moon
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There are a lot of articles out about this. If it's true, china is about to strip mine the moon. It will promote "green" energy to other countries while doing this. If it's not true, then we will have a fake space race to strip mine the moon.
Asteroid mining would be far more valuable in the long term.
That said I'm skeptical. The Chinese lie like breathing, and the moon is hardly a treasure trove of useful chemicals or minerals, least of all anything you could dig up with a probe.
Isn't it known to be a good source of He3 (relative to earth).
And they're talking about fusion
This part at least checks out.
It is a good source relative to earth but if fusion can be figured out at all it's probably easier just to use D-D or D-T instead of D-He.
Yeah, none of the fusion stuff is news, we've known the moon is probably relatively rich in He3 and it's probably a viable fusion fuel source for years.
The only new thing is the novel mineral structure, which is very likely useless and irrelevant. The only reason there are so many articles about it are probably China flexing it's western media tendrils to make some noise about China getting to name something from the moon, to boost its reputation as one of the big boys in space. Which was probably one of the strategic goals behind the mission in the first place, and makes me very skeptical that if they failed to actually find anything novel, they wouldn't just fabricate something themselves.
Very true.
Sure it has helium 3. How did they dig up, contain and return helium 3 in a device the size of a dog carrier?
Ancient chinese secret
In related news, strategic Calgon reserves are historically low.
Isn't asteroid mining only logical for out-of-earth utilization? That's what I saw somewhere.
yes an no. Materials like metals can be returned to earths surface in small quantities easily enough. Drop them in a ceramic ablation container and attach parachutes. For certain metals, it's even economical. But normally not.
When we were there we weren't looking for energy.
That said I doubt this material is stable fusion fuel.
Chyna lies
If it's anything like SARS-COV2, say goodbye to the moon.
Anyone think this is just a dare to get the U.S. to race to the moon only to find it doesn't exist?
Trolling at its finest... :)
That is a good theory
The moon doesn't exist? Based.
Their claims were confirmed by the International Mineralogical Association. I think they can be trusted, even if China can't. That said, nuclear fusion for power is theoretical. Changesite could speed up research, but don't expect power plants in the next few decades.
And we all know that international organizations are bastions of integrity that could never be bribed or corrupted in any way.
Wouldn't the cost of extraction make it economically . . . uh . . . unfeasible?
It's not like going to the moon is any less complicated or expensive.
We need an excuse to explore the cosmos.
Fusion? We have an an abundance of that material on earth. It's called the fucking ocean. Or a lake.... Or glaciers even.
It's the wrong isotope. Changesite contains hydrogen-3, which has two neutrons. I don't really understand why, but apparently the neutrons are important for the nuclear reaction
It's helium-3, which has two protons and one neutron. Neutrons are vital to fission reactions, but it's troublesome to deal with in fusion. Neutron radiation can be absorbed by atomic nuclei, changing their isotope, forcing electrons off and potentially even making them radioactive in the process. Good for your fission pile, not good for your fusion reactor, and very difficult to block.
The easiest form of fusion, deuterium-tritium fusion, creates a free neutron in the process. Deuterium-deuterium fusion does the same, though not at the same rate.
He-3 is a potential fusion fuel that doesn't create neutron radiation when you fuse it with more He-3, because it fuses into the stable He-4 (two protons and two neutrons) and two free protons.
Don't worry about it.
That looks frun
And I'm sure they're building a tower to heaven to outpace three little boys from a quiet mountain town in Colorado.
While I highly doubt anything that comes from China, I wouldn't be surprised if materials and techniques for achieving nuclear fusion or a translucent metal may only be obtainable from space
Different environments, different materials available or might just be zero gravity aids in certain functions.