posted on Sep, 14 2007 @ 06:06 AM
Firstly im confused how this thread hasnt been closed, theres already atleast 3 other threads, two closed and one left open, any way. This is my post
from 2 others.
Infact if you look at my signuture you'll see Helium-3 writian in it at the end, thats one of many He3 topics.
o well, this is what i had.
Ive been doing a bit of research on Helium-3, and this is a bit of what i got.
The life of Helium starts off at the sun, from here it passes through space, and then cosmic rays hit it and turn Helium into what we knwo as
Helium-3. Our Magnetic Feild and our Atmosphere repel Helium-3 and it goes to the Moon.
The reason we need Helium-3 is because we carnt make our Fusion reactors keep up with the required power to create fusion power, Helium-3 is not a
vast mineral on the Moon, helium-3 is in many places but Helium-4 covers alot more ground than -3, so finding -3 and leaving -4 will be harder than
people think.
Space race may be a good way to put this for finacial Values, 220 pounds of Helium-3 would have a value of around $141 million.
Because the concentration of helium-3 is extremely low, it would be necessary to process large amounts of rock and soil to isolate the material, but
wouldnt decreasing the mass of the Moon directly effect our tides ? With the rising levels of the Oceans due to global warming effecting the Moons
gravitional pull may be the final straw and cause flooding on Earth on a massive scale.
Since Helium-3 is getting repelled by us does that mean that, Mars, Saturn, Titan and other Moon's, Planets and astroids could have this precious
mineral on it ?
The idea of bases and mining sites on the Moon are not werid for this site, go to John Lears section of ATS to read about them. Helium-3 could be our
saviour, or Helium-3 could finsh us off, i can see many wars happening for this ore or mineral, what ever term is used for helium-3.
Couple of little facts about Helium-3: Helium-3 contains two protons and one neutron. Helium-3 do NOT last long, it gets turned into ultrastable
helium-4.
Eqation for the creation and reaction inside a Fusion Reactor:
D -- He3 -- He4 -- H -- ~18MeV
Key:
D - Deuterium
He3 - Helium 3
He4 - Helium 4
H - Helium
18MeV - Energy created or needed.
As i mentioned in the above, digging out the Moon could alter its gravitaional pull on our tides and create mayhem. I honestly do not know the mass on
the Moon in tonnes, but i do know that America needs 6.7 tonnes of helium-3 just for that segment of one country's energy demand, and from what ive
been reading that number is far far under the real amount, the most of what im reading is saying around 12 tonnes a year.
The US has around 107 million house holds, so lets say there is 700 million homes on the planet. That is about 12 tonnes for 107 million so how about
65-ish tonnes a year, maybe alittle more or less. So 65 tonnes a year, lets say we mine it for one decade, thats 650 tonnes of the Mass of a Moon that
has a MASSIVE effect on our gravitional pull. Starting to sound unsafe you think ?
Misconception of Helium-3 only being on the moon: Helium-3 is on Earth, it is a common misconception that it is only at the Moon. A long time ago
before Earth had such a good atmosphere we were constantly bombarded by Helium-3 from the sun. this raises the question, Why dont we just mine our own
? simple answer, our own -3 is located deep within the magma of our planets mantle, i think thats the right way of putting it, hey i got a D in
geography so dont hold your breath
The diference of Helium-4 and Helium-3 and its facts. Im going to have to put this simply for two reasons. 1) There may be people on ATS who arnt
great at Fusion Nuclear Reactors 2) I dont know alot about science.
Helium-3 and Helium-4 that we find on the Moon are created in the sun, that weve been through. What we didnt go through are some ratios and changes.
for every 10,000 -4 particals there is 1 -3 partical created. So the chances of finding -3 mines on the Moon are around 10,000 - 1.
Helium-3 pocesses 2 protons and 1 neutron, that we know. Helium-4 contains 2 protons and 2 neutrons. This sounds lieka little differnce, but on a
chemical level this is far too big to even conside usign -4 in place of -3.
Part of the reaction is a massivly important bit revolved around the -3, it is missing one neutron to make it -4, as soon as -3 relised that deuterium
is in the area it will reach out and grab the deuterium's neatron. This creates a massive reaction and that is what is desiered by sciences for
Fusion reaction.
I was just thinking about a more conspriracy style side of this, i was thinking that global warming started a few years ago apparently. We just
relised now appreantly, ming from Moon and taking He3 for simple practise runs and some mines for further study, COULD alter the Moons gravitational
pull and cause see levels to rise, but thats justa little part of me ranting at the end, so ignore that.
Thats what i got right now, hope it helps. Ill look up more infomation
Take Care, Vix
[edit on 14-9-2007 by Vixion]