Elon Musk just leaked China's new discovery on The Far Side of the Moon China has announced planes
to conduct three uncrewed missions in the next 10 years in an effort to compete with the US's lunar
presence according to claims from Chinese official media this announcement has been triggered by the
discovery of a new material on the moon due to the presence of helium-3 which has promised as
a fuel for nuclear fusion the substance has the potential to be a source of energy in the future
substantial amounts of the material were found in samples from China's Chung E5 Mission suggesting
that they might be extracted from the lunar surface how feasible is it to be used as a fuel
for nuclear fusion let's find out while Elon Musk updates us all hello everyone and welcome back to
Elon Musk Evolution where we bring you the most recent news about Elon Musk and his multi-billion
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and let's Dive Right In China recently hailed the discovery of its first new mineral on the
moon and the sixth mineral ever discovered by mankind making it the third country in the world
after the United States and Russia according to a joint statement from the China National Space
Administration and the China atomic energy Authority according to musk change site Y is
a type of colorless transparent columnar Crystal that was discovered according to the Chinese news
agency xinhua through an analysis of lunar Basalt particles by a research team from the Beijing
Research Institute of uranium geology a division of the China National nuclear Corporation only
1731 grams or about 61 ounces of lunar samples were returned to Earth by the Chung E5 mission in
2020. these were the first moon rocks sent back to Earth since 1976. the sample was examined in the
International mineralogical Association verified it as a new mineral with a radius of around 10
microns it is a single Crystal particle change site y share some chemical similarities with
the more prevalent phosphate mineral marilite which has been discovered on Earth as well as
in lunar and meteorite samples the many categories of phosphate minerals are separated mirror light
and whitlockite are two more subgroups of the marrow light category change site y belongs to
the brionite subgroup which only manifests itself in meteorites and on the moon claims scientists at
briug with a diameter of only 10 microns the change site y sample is a single crystalline
particle that was painstakingly selected for more than 140 000 other particles of a similar size its
crystal structure was subsequently determined via x-ray diffraction analysis with the help of the
samples that were returned scientists were able to determine the first estimates of the helium-3
contents in lunar dust as well as the extraction parameters needed to extract this isotope musk
stated considered to be a viable potential fuel for nuclear fusion helium-3 it is distinct as the
only known stable isotope of any element with more protons than neutrons having two protons and just
one Neutron theoretically a deuterium helium-3 fusion reaction would release 164.3 megawatt hours
of energy per gram of helium-3 more importantly neither the helium-3 nor its reaction products
are radioactive so they would not cause problems with radioactive nuclear waste disposal like a
deuterium tritium reactor wheel all however there are drawbacks such as the need for helium-3 Fusion
reactors to run at temperatures far higher than those required for tritium reactors and the fact
that helium-3 is highly uncommon and challenging to isolate on Earth according to musk in fact the
primary method used today to create it is to wait for the tritium and nuclear warheads and
related stocks to Decay before removing minute amounts of it amounting to around 15 kilograms
or 33 pounds annually 7.2 parts per trillion is all that naturally exists of it in the Earth's
atmosphere the Earth's mantle contains it as well but it is generally inaccessible because it is
found in primordial gases however given that the U.S has begun employing it to Neutron detectors
that search for nuclear materials at U.S border crossings greatly increasing demand and driving
up the price in line it is unquestionably of tremendous value many analysts think it would
make a great candidate for mining on the moon because it has recently reached highs of 17 540 US
dollars per gram and demand is only anticipated to increase up to 1.1 million metric tons of helium-3
are thought to be present on the moon's surface according to the international policy digest
that amounts to roughly 1.5 quadrillion dollars in resources and it also presents a transformational
Fusion Energy opportunity as described by U Yang xion the head of the Chinese lunar exploration
program each year three space shuttle missions could bring enough fuel for all human beings
across the world obviously establishing a mining business on the moon would be extremely expensive
it wouldn't be a small operation either as the highest estimated concentrations of helium-3 and
lunar soil are around 50 parts per trillion China's not released the concentrations it
discovered in its samples which means you'd probably need to process 150 tons of regolith
to extract a single gram of this important isotope then you would need to transport it
back to Earth which is not an easy or inexpensive task furthermore even though the fusion field has
recently seen a lot of energy and activity it is far from certain that it will become a functioning
energy source anytime soon and if Fusion researchers are able to produce and maintain
the much higher 600 million degree temperatures required for helium-3 Fusion maybe they will be
able to produce and sustain the billion degree temperatures required for hydrogen Boron
Fusion which is free from radioactive fuels and byproducts but uses incredibly cheap and abundant
fuel according to Fusion company Tae this process is anticipated to be operational commercially by
the early to mid 2030s however it is undeniably a concept China wants to investigate lunar helium
mining musk stated a press statement from the China National nuclear Corporation states that
one of this strategic objectives of the country's linear exploration program is to research nuclear
science and analyze the composition of lunar soil and rock samples to assess perspective nuclear
energy resources on the moon the China National Space and Administration reported that the next
three phase four lunar missions have complete State permission following the announcements of
the change site Y and helium-3 according to shine Chung E6 7 and 8 will investigate the lunar South
Pole and start constructing the foundation for the international lunar research station they
are anticipated to start launching as early as 2024. professor of geological Sciences at Brown
University James head asserted that lunar samples are the coin of the realm for comprehending
planetary Evolution scientists are now better able to grasp what produced the moon thanks to
the examination of samples that NASA obtained decades ago during the Apollo lunar Landing era
and later during the Luna robotic Landers of the Soviet Union these discoveries combined with the
outcomes of current's computer modeling according to scientists provide evidence in favor of the
hypothesis that the moon was formed from the fragments of an Earth Mars impact the geologic
evolution of the Moon and its volatile reserves will be better under stood because of new samples
that have been collected from various parts of the Moon according to a statement from NASA and
according to Professor head the near side of the moon's hemisphere facing Earth has been the focus
of the majority of sampling up into this point the moon's Uncharted regions are the focus of upcoming
Expeditions which includes initiatives by China and the United States Professor Neal suggested the
samples from other geologically fascinating areas particularly from the planet's younger topography
could contribute in expanding scientists knowledge of the moon's Evolution and then he continued the
moon continues to offer some intriguing truths and that's it for today's video guys thank you
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