R
rogerinnh
Guest
The mining of Helium3 from the soil o fthe lunar surface is often given as a justification for a return to theMoon mission or even the establishment of a permanent manned presence on the Moon. Helium3 is an ideal substance for use in the efficient nuclear generation of electrical energy. Helium, generated and thrown off by the Sun in huge quantities, is converted by cosmic rays into Helium3, which ends up on the Moon but not on Earth because of the magnetospehere of the Earth.<br />So, I'm wondering, could we take a bucket or so of plane old Helium, loft into a really high orbit (outside of the magnetosphere) or maybe even further out into Solar orbit, leave it there for a while (years?) and let the cosmic rays do their thing, converting it into Helium3, and then just retrieve the bucket again, with a nice supply of Helium3. According to one source, 220 pounds of Helium3 is worth about $141 million. Might be worth tossing a few buckets of it up into space for a while.