Scientists from the Shanghai Institute of Satellite Engineering have proposed in an article in Aerospace Shanghai magazine to send capsules filled with helium-3 from the Moon by accelerating them on a 50-meter rotating manipulator, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports.
The aim is to create an electromagnetic installation that accelerates a 50-metre-long manipulator that rotates in a circle to a speed of 2.4 km/second, corresponding to the second cosmic speed of the Moon – the speed at which an object can enter a trajectory towards the Earth. This speed is planned to be reached in the airless space of the Moon during acceleration in 10 minutes.
It is proposed to use solar and nuclear energy to power the facility, and to return 70% of the energy expended to batteries, converting kinetic energy into electricity during the deceleration phase of the facility.
Scientists believe that such a structure could be delivered from Earth as part of Russian-Chinese cooperation to build a scientific station at the Moon’s south pole by 2035.
The project is estimated to cost $18.2 billion and will take 20 years to complete.
The main goal of such a design should be the transportation to Earth of helium-3 extracted from the Moon, an isotope of the inert gas helium, which can be a clean, safe and efficient fuel for controlled nuclear fusion plants.
On the Moon, helium-3 accumulates and falls to the surface along with a stream of ionized particles called the “solar wind.”
Source: Rossa Primavera
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