Helium-3 fusion is even more difficult than regular fusion Closely related to this is another thorny problem: And rather startlingly, many of the people who advocate sending humans to the Moon for helium-3 seem to be unaware of the current state of fusion research, or when-or if-it is likely to become commercially viable. Simply put, fusion reactors using helium-3 are a development that may be decades, even centuries, away, with no clear roadmap to development or extensive funding stream to make it happen.īut none of this is ever mentioned whenever the Moon and helium-3 comes up. Even if there had been a distinct objective, it is doubtful we would have fusion power today because it is a very difficult physics problem. The long history of fusion research is somewhat reminiscent of a quote attributed to Richard Feynman: “Physics is like sex: sure it may give some practical results, but that’s not why we do it.” A lot of fusion research has been more of a physics experiment than an applied development project-maybe not exactly screwing around, but certainly not driving towards a clearly identified goal of generating commercial electricity. The big first step, getting the same amount of energy out of the reaction that gets put into it to make it occur, has been promised for decades and even today is apparently a decade or two away. Despite decades of funding, commercial fusion power is still considered by scientists and engineers to be decades away at best. But somebody who is a little more well read may be aware that electricity-generating fusion reactors do not exist. Most people who use electricity put very little thought into how it is generated and don’t know or care if it comes from a coal-fired power plant, a windmill, or a nuclear fission reactor. In fact, whenever helium-3 on the Moon is mentioned either in news articles or fiction it is always linked to fusion power. Novels, television shows, and movies such as the excellent 2009 film Moon used lunar helium-3 as a plot point. And unless you’re new to the topic of human spaceflight, you know that helium-3 is often invoked as a reason why we need to send humans to the Moon, where helium-3 is believed by some (still not proven) to exist in relatively large quantities.
Helium-3 is an isotope of helium, which means that instead of having two protons and two neutrons, like plain old boring helium, helium-3 lives on the wild side and has a single neutron and two protons. Harrison Schmitt discussed helium-3 mining on the Moon during a talk at last month’s Mars Society conference in Washington. But even eight years later helium-3 still pollutes the environment of discussions about human spaceflight, despite its very nebulous assumptions. NASA did not drive that discussion then, but rather Schmitt and a few others. The last big flurry of articles and publications, and even a congressional hearing, about helium-3 fusion occurred in 2007, when NASA was still planning to send humans to the Moon. But he also embraces the dubious scientific and engineering idea of mining helium-3 on the Moon for use in fusion reactors. Schmitt can still deliver graduate-level geology lectures if given the opportunity. He is a Harvard-trained geologist who NASA admitted to the Apollo program under pressure from Congress, and his presence undoubtedly increased the scientific return of his Apollo 17 mission as well as the entire program considering his role in training astronauts on earlier missions. Schmitt is probably the smartest astronaut who walked on the Moon, and certainly the most educated. Last month at the Mars Society convention in Washington, DC, the subject of helium-3 briefly sparked once more, brought up by one of its longtime proponents, Apollo astronaut Harrison Schmitt.īut even years later helium-3 still pollutes the environment of discussions about human spaceflight, despite its very nebulous assumptions. But that magical thinking still lurks, like a small burning ember in a burned-down house, waiting for a chance to flare up again. Because of this, there is also subsequently very little talk about a weird bit of magical thinking that often accompanies discussions of humans on the Moon: mining the Moon for helium-3 to power nonexistent fusion reactors. In recent years the subject of sending humans back to the Moon has largely gone mute, initially overwhelmed by talk of NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission, and more recently by the agency’s media drumbeat about sending humans to Mars.
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