What valuable mineral resources are there on the moon?

How to obtain the composition of mineral resources on the moon?

Part of the lunar soil brought back by China's Chang'e 5 was used for public welfare exhibitions. It was ridiculed by many people at the time. Unfortunately, it was confirmed that lunar soil cannot grow vegetables. These are all jokes. Although vegetables cannot be grown, lunar soil has huge scientific research value. It can not only help determine the origin history of the earth, moon and solar system, but can also be used to analyze various elements present on the moon.

During the honeymoon period of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, the United States gave China 1 gram of soil. With just this gram of soil, the Chinese scientific research team produced 14 papers. China is the third country in the world to dig soil from the moon and bring it back to Earth for research. Prior to this, the United States' Apollo program brought back more than 700 kilograms of lunar soil, and the Soviet Union also used unmanned probes. This method brought back more than 300 grams of lunar soil.

Most of these lunar soils are tiny particles formed by weathering. Scientists took out some of them and ground them, then attached them to carbonaceous transparent glue and observed them with high-resolution scanning microscopes and spectrometers. Test, or use atom probe tomography technology to analyze the composition of one of the dust particles to determine the content of various minerals in the lunar soil.

In addition, scientific researchers can also determine the distribution range and approximate quantity of lunar rock types and mineral resources through multi-spectral detection data sent back by lunar artificial satellites. What mineral resources are there on the moon?

Comparing the samples brought back from China with those from the United States, we found that the Chinese samples were actually colorful and contained many quartz glass particles, while the American samples were darker. This is mainly because there is a large amount of silica on the moon, with the content of silicon reaching more than 20%, and the sampling point chosen by China is located on the back side of the moon - a location that has long been hit by meteorites and asteroids.

The high temperature generated by the impact causes the silica to react and form glass slag, which means humans can make glass on the moon. The lunar samples brought back by human exploration of the moon are mainly composed of two parts, namely lunar rock particles and lunar soil.

In addition to a large amount of silica, through research and analysis of lunar samples, people were surprised to find that the most common minerals on the earth are present on the moon, including oxygen, aluminum, iron, magnesium, and calcium. , sodium, potassium and other elements are the most abundant. The rocks on the moon are mainly composed of three parts, mare basalt, sourite and aluminum-rich clinite.

Maria basalt is the most studied and thoroughly studied by humans. It is widely found in various depressions on the moon, and is initially estimated to exceed one million cubic kilometers. The lunar basalt is rich in ilmenite, and conservatively it is estimated that one hundred billion tons of ilmenite can be extracted. Needless to say, the role of iron. Titanium is a material with very good mechanical properties. It is lightweight, corrosion-resistant, ductile, low-temperature and high-temperature resistant. It is widely used in many industrial fields.

Suzhouite is rich in potassium, rare earth elements, phosphorus, and radioactive elements such as uranium and thorium. It can extract 670 million tons of rare earths, 840 million tons of uranium, and 360 million tons of thorium. It contains minerals such as aluminum. The lunar soil, just the five centimeter thick sand on the lunar surface, contains hundreds of millions of tons of iron, which is iron oxide that is very easy to smelt, and there are also pure molybdenum particles with a particle size of about 0.6 microns.

Molybdenum can improve the strength and toughness of alloy steel, or be used in the manufacture of catalysts, activators and fertilizers. However, the content of molybdenum in the earth's crust is only 0.00015%, and it is extremely difficult to exist in a free state. Thanks to the high-energy particles in the solar wind constantly acting on the lunar surface in a vacuum, the molybdenum-containing compounds on the moon undergo a reduction reaction, producing pure molybdenum particles, which are extremely attractive.

But these two are not the main point. The big head in the lunar surface soil is undoubtedly the helium-3 that mankind has dreamed of. The amount of helium-3 that can be mined on the earth is only a few hundred kilograms, but there are millions of tons on the moon. This is due to the long-term ejection of the solar wind. After all, the surface of the moon does not have the same magnetic field and atmosphere protection as the earth.

To sum up, according to rough statistics by humans, there are not only abundant common minerals such as copper, hydrogen, iron, silicon, titanium, and aluminum on the moon, but also large amounts of rare earths, molybdenum, and helium. , manganese, cobalt, chromium, nickel, magnesium and other relatively scarce mineral resources on the earth. The future of mankind, helium-3

Having mentioned this, I have to mention helium-3 in particular. There are only a few hundred kilograms of helium-3 that can be mined on the earth, but there are millions of tons on the moon. What does this mean?

Helium III is a nuclear fusion raw material that can be used in fourth-generation nuclear weapons, nuclear power plants and spacecrafts. However, unlike the raw materials commonly used in current nuclear power plants, this raw material is very safe and does not produce any traces after the reaction. Radiation is pollution-free, and the energy efficiency ratio is extremely high. Only 10 tons can meet my country's energy needs for one year, and 100 tons is enough for the whole world to use for one year. This means that the helium-3 on the moon is enough for human use for thousands of years and even more. Thousands of years.

Although it currently costs a lot to land humans on the moon, once the technology to mine helium-3 on the moon matures, even after deducting this expensive cost, a return of up to 250 times can still be achieved, with only It only takes a few spaceships carrying hundreds of tons to bring back and forth the energy needed by all mankind. It’s no wonder that helium-3 is an excellent future energy source. It is not easy to mine the moon, which is "full of gold".

Some people say that although the moon is rich in mineral resources, except for helium-3, it is not cost-effective to mine and bring it back with a spacecraft, which is a complete loss. Buy and sell. In fact, this is not a problem. As long as the technology is sufficient, humans can completely build relevant equipment and facilities on the moon using local materials, and then only send back helium-3 and some rare minerals.

For example, for every ton of helium-3 mined by humans, 6,300 tons of hydrogen, 70 tons of nitrogen, and 1,600 tons of carbon will be obtained. The mined ilmenite and other metals can be used to manufacture lunar bases, rockets, and space. The spacecraft will also produce liquid oxygen and other ancillary products, which can be used to produce water and oxygen. The remaining personnel on the lunar base can be completely self-sufficient.

However, what is worrying is that although we describe the helium-3 on the moon as being so abundant, based on the average concentration of helium-3 on the lunar surface, humans still need to obtain one gram of helium-3. To process more than 150 tons of lunar soil, one ton means processing 150 million tons of lunar soil, which is hundreds of times more difficult to obtain than gold. Unless humans find enrichment areas, the hardships can be imagined.

What is more worth mentioning is that the moon is different from the earth. The temperature difference on the moon is too large, it is microgravity, and it is a vacuum environment. It is also full of high-energy cosmic rays and micrometeorites, which means that existing lubricants and sealing materials will be difficult to use, and the continuous and stable operation of the machinery will face huge challenges. According to the ideas of American scientists, if you want to implement mining on the moon, a series of problems must be solved.

Micrometeorite collision protection, stability under low gravity, manufacturing explosives from local materials, equipment automation, remote control and robot manipulation, manufacturing of lightweight materials with high strength and durability under vacuum and low temperature, batteries and fuel cells or the supply of radiant energy.

According to the estimates of Russian scientists, if humans start working on the mining of helium-3 now, it will be realized in the next three to forty years, and the total cost is expected to reach hundreds of billions of dollars. This amount seems to be astronomical. number. Therefore, internal friction is undoubtedly one of the biggest obstacles to humankind's future exploration.