WEBVTT - Mining the Moon 0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:04.720 Welcome to Stuff from the Science Lab from how stuff 0:00:04.760 --> 0:00:16.320 works dot com. Hey guys, and welcome to the podcast. 0:00:16.360 --> 0:00:17.880 This is Alice, and I don't really like the science 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:20.680 editor at how stuff works dot com. Just Robert Lamb, 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:24.959 science writer for how stuff works dot com. Today we're 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:28.280 talking about helium, about the kind you find in those balloons, 0:00:28.480 --> 0:00:31.560 but the kind you find on the moon. Yes, indeed, 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:34.599 So let's keep off our podcast today and give our 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:38.080 listeners some fun moon facts. I've got one. Can I start? Yeah, 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:41.320 go for it. Okay, where did the Moon come from? 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:45.720 Outer space? Well? Yeah, kinda. So there's this theory, right, 0:00:45.800 --> 0:00:48.320 Scientists love theories, and this one is their favorite surrounding 0:00:48.360 --> 0:00:51.479 the Moon. It's called the ejected ring. Theory goes like this. 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:55.320 A couple of billion years ago, there's this massive space collision. 0:00:55.760 --> 0:00:58.400 Two planets, one of which was Earth and one of 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:00.600 which was this, uh this, one of that came barreling 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:04.400 into our neighborhood. They collided, they are, and the resulting 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:06.679 smash up. The remnants of the two planets mixed together. 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:10.319 They formed an orbital ring and that eventually condensed into 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:15.120 the Moon. Well here's another fact that stems right off 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:17.160 of that it's Uh, the Moon and the Earth as 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:20.960 we know today are in a gravitational relationship. The Moon 0:01:21.080 --> 0:01:24.479 is trapped in the Earth's gravitational field or it's around us. 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:28.319 But the Moon's gravitational pull tugs on the oceans, which 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:31.560 creates the tides, right, and actually that tug has been 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:35.959 suggested as one source of energy. Um. So basically what 0:01:36.000 --> 0:01:38.880 we would do on a on Earth, we'd be we 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:41.640 built these underwater turbines that would take advantage of this 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:45.440 uh natural motion of the tides, and we'd um, we 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:48.720 have these turbines and we generate some electricity from it. Basically. Yeah, 0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:54.080 I've seen some designs that actually involve a bio biomimicry 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:59.280 that involved like a basically a giant mechanical sharp tail. Um. 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:02.320 You know, the basic ideas that a nature came up 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:05.360 with this, best will mimic this and use that to 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:08.080 to collect the kinetic energy of the types. Right, It's 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:11.919 pretty neat idea. But a couple of unknowns with this approach, like, um, 0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:14.480 you know, are barnacle is going to grow on the turbines? Yeah? 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:16.320 Do we do we need to put even more junk 0:02:16.360 --> 0:02:18.480 on the bottom of our oceans? I think not, So 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:22.160 let's talk about helium three instead. Yeah, helium three. Uh, 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:25.680 and this is basically normal helium as was in my 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:29.079 lungs earlier, except there's a one missing neutron and that's 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:32.440 a key difference. Yes, yeah, pretty key. When I asked 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:35.800 for helium three downstairs in the little lobby store, they 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:38.200 had none. They're all sold out because of Judy's fourty 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:42.560 birthday party. Um that, and there's there's virtually none of it. 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:44.880 There's very little of it on the on the Earth, 0:02:45.600 --> 0:02:47.440 but there's a lot of it on the Moon, or 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:52.720 at least much more. Yeah, okay, well, why well, helium 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:56.799 three forms when cosmic rays bombard helium four, which is 0:02:56.840 --> 0:03:00.240 produced naturally through the fusion through fusion in the sun. Right, 0:03:01.240 --> 0:03:05.519 So the Sun's pumping this stuff out. Our gravitational field 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:10.120 and our atmosphere repel the stuff from entering the Earth's atmosphere. 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:13.400 So what little of it there is on Earth has 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:17.679 been here for just ages and ages, ancient stuff. And it's, 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:19.920 like I said, this, very little of it. The Moon, however, 0:03:20.960 --> 0:03:23.639 no atmosphere to speak of. It's just up there collecting 0:03:23.639 --> 0:03:27.080 this stuff age after age. So you know, we reach 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:30.760 a point where where we have you know, very little here, 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:33.519 but just massive reserves on the Moon. Yeah, so there's 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:36.720 like a mother load up there. Yeah, we're talking one 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:40.200 million tons of it on the Moon. And to put 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:42.760 that in perspective, they say that the amount of energy 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:46.720 stored in that deposit is roughly ten times that stored 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:50.040 in fossil fuels on Earth. Right, So helium three is 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:53.080 awesome for nuclear fusion reactions. I mean, that's what we're 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:56.600 really interested in. And what's more, it's it represents an 0:03:56.600 --> 0:04:00.360 improvement on nuclear fusion reactions that we've undertaken in the past. 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:03.280 To remind everybody, nuclear fusion is the process where you 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:07.120 take two elements, you combine them and it produces a 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:11.080 new element and energy and the energy being key, Yeah, 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:13.680 a lot of energy. It's the same reaction like Robert said, 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:16.520 that fuels our sun and it's not fission, which is 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:21.440 the splitting. Always confused those too, but fusion fuse vision 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:24.880 split anyway. So when helium three is heated to high 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:28.280 temperatures and you combine it with a little deterium and 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:31.520 deuterium of course is an isotype of hydrogen right with 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:34.400 it as a neutron next to its one proton. Do 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:38.800 you get this huge, huge, huge reaction and the energy 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:42.440 which is which is pretty much our energy dreams. This 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:44.240 is the stuff of our energy dreams. This is the 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:46.920 stuff that would make oil be gone and helium three 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:49.479 rock on. You get nuclear fusion. I mean, this is 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:52.240 what they're gunning for at the National Ignition Facility. But 0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:55.080 they just really haven't been able to generate a nuclear 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:58.880 fusion reaction in a controlled fashion, in a safe fashion, 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:02.400 or on a commercial scale fashion like they would with 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:05.960 the helium three. Yeah. Like, um, theoretically you could. You 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:10.120 could form the same reaction, a similar reaction with tritium, 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:12.120 but one of the by products of that is a 0:05:12.480 --> 0:05:16.000 just a whole boatload of radiation. Yeah, so helium three 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:17.839 tends to be cleaner and it doesn't seem to pose 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:21.080 a danger to sunless radiation produced. Well, what don't they 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:23.599 like about it? Though? Well, there is the whole fact 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:26.120 that it's mostly on the moon. Like I said, that's 0:05:26.360 --> 0:05:29.120 what what small amounts we have on Earth is sufficient 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:32.600 for tests and a horse and around in a laboratory, 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:36.080 but not so much actually like gearing up for full 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:40.240 on production. Uh. In speaking of production, we can make 0:05:40.520 --> 0:05:45.200 helium three, but we produce it as a byproduct of 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:49.960 creating nuclear warheads, so that's not exactly an ideal situation either. 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:53.200 And again it doesn't produce large quantities. And then there's 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:55.080 a fact that we really haven't mastered the Moon and 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:58.400 back journey quite yet from a you know, safety or 0:05:58.440 --> 0:06:01.920 efficiency perspective. I mean, people have been known to die 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:05.919 on these trips, and efficiency wise, it's not clear that 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:09.120 will be getting out more than what we put in. Yeah, 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:11.240 I mean that's the thing. You have to be able 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:13.400 to justify going to the Moon and bringing this stuff 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:16.840 back and uh, and it's actually, uh, there's more involved. 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:19.039 It's not just simply landing the vessel, getting out the 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:21.960 shovel and throwing you know, some rocks into the into 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:24.760 the lunar vehicle and returning. And incidentally, that's how we 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:27.440 know that there is exactly the helium three in the 0:06:27.480 --> 0:06:30.479 moon is because what's his the astronaut Harrison Schmidt stuffed 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:34.800 his pockets full of lunar rocks and then we got 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:37.240 around to analyzing it and will and behold, there's a 0:06:37.240 --> 0:06:39.920 ton of helium three. It kind of makes it sound 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:42.599 like you shoplifted them or something. But yeah, I don't 0:06:42.600 --> 0:06:45.080 think you can shoplift from the Moon because it's the 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:48.520 property of all mankind. We'll get to that in a second. 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:51.000 We will get to that in a second. But but yeah, 0:06:51.000 --> 0:06:52.719 to to bring to bring it back from the Moon, 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.039 first of all, to uh, to mine it, you'd have 0:06:55.120 --> 0:06:57.919 to create some pretty high temperature, so we're talking like 0:06:57.960 --> 0:07:01.240 six hundred degrees celsius to nine under degree celsius too, 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:04.120 to extract it from the soil and remove some of 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:06.480 the impurities. And then you're gonna have to further refine 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:10.080 the stuff because it doesn't just come ready made, right, 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:13.680 It comes in roughly thirteen parts per billion in the 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:17.080 lunar soil. So there's a there would be a lengthy 0:07:17.400 --> 0:07:19.840 mining and refining process that would have to take place 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:22.080 on the Moon. And I mean, what do we have 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:23.520 up there right now? Why does it have to take 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:27.000 place on the Moon. Well, because otherwise we've got to 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:29.800 bring all that unrefined like moon rock. So it's a 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:31.760 matter of space. It's a matter of space. I mean, 0:07:31.800 --> 0:07:34.360 if we build up I mean, we couldn't even build 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:36.360 a space uplighted to the Moon. But I mean, yeah, 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:38.800 it's it's it's the only feasible way to go about 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:41.679 it is to to refine it there and bring back 0:07:42.280 --> 0:07:44.680 the goods, you know. And of course up there on 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:46.880 the moon right now, what we have a flag, a 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:50.559 few you know, some chunks of lunar vehicles, center, golf 0:07:50.560 --> 0:07:53.080 ball or two. Yeah, because Alan Shepard hit a golf 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:58.720 ball off of it. Proudest moments and human history. And 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:01.880 then there's the other question of our fusion reactors really 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:05.800 aren't quite up to the task yet, right Yeah, we're 0:08:05.560 --> 0:08:09.080 we're talking you know, theoretical stuff and and you know, 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:12.600 early schematics and designs at this point, and U and 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:14.880 nobody's gonna build, you know, try and build one of 0:08:14.880 --> 0:08:17.000 these things that we don't have the fuel to to 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:19.760 run and make it, you know, earn it's keep. So 0:08:20.280 --> 0:08:23.040 the i mean, the helium three that does exist up 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:27.920 there is, Oh, it's monumental in terms of money, in 0:08:28.040 --> 0:08:31.320 terms of the monetary value st value, high Street value 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:34.080 for helium three, no doubt. And a lot of people 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:37.760 are a lot of people want it? Who wants it? Everybody? 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:40.679 I mean, obviously the United States is interested, NASA is 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:43.720 expressed an interest in it. China has definitely expressed a 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:47.840 very vocal interest. India, Russia, A couple of private corporations 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:50.360 out there, I think are also in on the helium 0:08:50.400 --> 0:08:53.280 three race because we're talking about the future of energy 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:57.680 production on the planet and as well as the possibilities 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:01.920 for the further exploration of our our solar system because 0:09:02.120 --> 0:09:03.400 you know, you mind it up there on the moon, 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:07.199 and the Moon is also um an ideal launching pad, 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:09.800 an ideal base camp, if you will, for for further 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:13.560 exploration right less of an escape velocity, etcetera. Yeah, NASA 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:16.520 outlined its whole um. It's numerous, numerous. I think it 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:20.240 has like two hundred lunar exploration objectives and this clearly 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:23.359 helium three was one of them, as well as utilizing 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:26.680 other lunar resources. There's a whole tab devoted to it 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:30.040 and it's spreadsheet, and it could get pretty competitive up there. 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:31.840 I mean, this could be we could be talking about 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:34.960 the gold rushes of the nineteenth century only on the 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:37.840 Moon and for helium three, the helium three rushes, the 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:42.800 helium three rushes. Yeah, so they it's not really clear 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:46.559 who owns the moon. So who owns the moon? Well, 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:51.600 nobody really owns the moon per se, because the un says, so, oh, well, 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:54.600 well that clears it up. No, no, but seriously, that's 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:57.040 now there's this Moon treaty that they rode up in 0:09:57.840 --> 0:10:01.040 nine that essentially does say the moon is, uh, the 0:10:01.040 --> 0:10:05.240 moon and its related resources are the property of quote 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:08.320 unquote the common heritage of mankind. And of course it's 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:10.880 one thing to say that, you know then, or even now, 0:10:11.040 --> 0:10:14.960 when nobody's up there right now there, we're not exactly 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:16.840 hitting the moon a lot, or or or have the 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:22.360 wherewithal to mine and refine anything. So but once people 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:24.360 do get up right, yeah, once the technology catches up 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:27.600 with us, I could see this becoming much more repressing issue, right. 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:30.120 And who's going to abide by the treaty? Right, It's 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:32.240 not like some of the nations are that good at 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:37.560 abiding by existing treaties now anyone, anyone? So when are 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:41.280 we talking about Well, it depends depends when you're looking 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:46.119 into the future. And then who's doing the the the imagining. 0:10:46.200 --> 0:10:49.400 Because I've read some articles where China was supposed to 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:52.360 be up there right now. Maybe well maybe they are, 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:57.120 they just have reported it yet maybe so in theory, yeah, 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:00.400 China was planning to be up there already. Um, I've 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:06.880 also heard yeah, and I think something and so yeah, 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:09.640 it's it's kind of up in the air. So to 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:13.520 wrap this up, so yeah, until any of this uh 0:11:13.800 --> 0:11:16.160 comes to fruition, we uh we have the whole title 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:19.880 thing to fall back on. Yeah, we do. And I 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:23.280 also think werewolves a big possibility because, as we all know, 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:27.800 the full moon changes people who suffer from lecanthropy into wearawolves. 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:30.959 And who's to say that that process doesn't give off 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:34.480 a spare proton, right, no doubt, no doubt. I think 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:36.760 we should look into that. Yeah, if you're not interested 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:39.960 in the Wearable prospect or if you are interested in 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:42.720 the Wearable Prospect or the moon or helium three, head 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:44.640 on over to how stuff works dot com because we 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:47.400 have plenty for you to read. We also have a 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:50.319 pretty cool blog over at blogs dot house stuff works 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:52.880 dot com and that's called side Stuff. So check it out, guys, 0:11:53.080 --> 0:12:02.440 and thanks for listening. For more on this and thousands 0:12:02.440 --> 0:12:05.880 of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Want 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:08.560 more how stuff works, check out our blogs on the 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:10.240 house stuff works dot com home page.