Chapter 1: What are the motivations behind the modern space race?
As more countries and companies set their sights on space, it may make you wonder, what's the end goal? Do we simply want to be a space faring species? Exploring the solar system for the betterment of humanity? Or do people smell profit in space?
While researching this video, I found out a lot of eye-opening reasons why mining in space, and especially on our moon, might well be something that we see happening in the next couple of decades. Why? Well, just wait until you find out what's actually there to be mined. The first substance is known as helium-3.
You may have heard of helium-3 in sci-fi stories, as theories suggest it is the ideal substance for a clean type of nuclear reactor, with no radiation and no dangerous byproduct. It also has uses in medicine and radiation detectors. However, it is really rare on Earth.
It does occur naturally and can be found in deposits of natural gas for instance, but it's generally not viable to extract, as even in natural gas, there are only around 100 parts per billion. So let's say we had 1 billion cubic metres of natural gas. You'd only be able to extract around 15kg of helium-3 from it. A lot of the time, that's not economically viable.
We can also produce helium-3 as a by-product of the radioactive decay of tritium.
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Chapter 2: How is helium-3 mined and why is it important?
The problem with that though is that tritium is a crucial component of nuclear weapons, and so when the world slowed down the production of nuclear weapons, helium-3 stockpiles also started to diminish. Assuming we don't want more tritium in the world, it means we need to find another source of helium-3, especially if technology improves enough for helium-3 reactors to become a reality.
Fortunately, we have a world in orbit around Earth right now, which has been bombarded by helium-3 for billions of years thanks to the Sun. Earth's magnetic field deflects helium-3 travelling with the solar wind around the planet, whereas the Moon, with no magnetic field for protection, simply absorbs it in the top layer of the ground, called regolith.
We aren't talking huge quantities, it has at most 50 parts per billion, but because it's all over the moon, not just in tiny pockets, it can be collected alongside any other mining operation. It could also be used to power reactors on the moon itself, which would help a moon base be self-sufficient.
Some people think that helium-3 mining on the moon will not be viable, however China states that eventually mining helium-3 is one of the primary goals of their Chinese lunar exploration programme. American, European and Indian scientists have all stated it is something they will consider further, and Russia is conducting a feasibility study on this right now.
Even private companies are eyeing up the possibility. Because the parts per billion of helium-3 are relatively low, even in the moon's regolith, it would make sense that whoever was mining for helium-3 would also be mining for something else in the regolith at the same time. But what else can be found in it? As it happens, the lunar regolith is packed with different materials.
Look at this false colour mosaic of the moon, each colour indicating different deposits of minerals found on the lunar surface. There are plenty of metals to be found on the moon in large quantities, like iron, titanium, aluminium, silicon, calcium and magnesium. Some of these metals are locked into hard-to-access minerals and oxides.
However, separating the metals will often also produce useful by-products like oxygen and hydrogen. They are super basic and not rare on Earth at all, but unlocking these elements on the moon itself will allow for a colony to be self-sustaining, as oxygen means breathable air, hydrogen can be converted to fuel, and combining the two will produce water.
Unprocessed regolith could also prove useful, as it could potentially be turned into lunacrete, useful for building infrastructure on the moon without having to transport the materials from Earth. Black glass could also easily be produced from lunar regolith.
And, as I mentioned in a previous video, while it's not super ideal, some plants can grow in lunar regolith, helping any lunar base to be self-sufficient in growing its own food, short of using hydroponics. But perhaps the most important resource found on the moon are, ironically enough, metals known as rare earths.
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Chapter 3: What resources can be found on the Moon's surface?
Going back to Gateway, NASA intends to start with the basics, so the first phase of Gateway's construction will focus on installing the power and propulsion modules, to expand it later with the Halo module, which will be a very basic space habitat which will allow the stay of at least 30 days for a crew of 4 people.
During the construction process of Gateway, NASA will send a rover to the lunar south pole. The rover's special task is to map the location of water trapped at the bottom of the craters, so we can better understand just how much is there and to see how pure it is.
This is because one of the proposed places for a settlement on the moon is around its south pole, where the presence of water ice has been confirmed, hidden at the bottom of eternally dark craters which protect the ice from the sun's rays. These craters could be perfect candidates for a possible habitat, as they would protect astronauts residing there too.
The peaks around the craters, on the other hand, would be exposed to the most amount of sunlight, allowing solar arrays to capture energy from the Sun more easily for power and for the cultivation of plants. Remember, solar arrays wouldn't be so effective anywhere else on the Moon due to its days that last a month, and two weeks in the dark isn't so useful there.
Although we know from previous missions that water does exist at the bottom of the South Pole craters, we don't have a good handle on how much, as the lack of light there makes observations from space impossible. This is going to be one of the obstacles the rover will need to overcome.
It will have to travel into a crater on battery power alone, and leave again before it runs out, so that the rover can charge them up again using the solar panels. The design of the rover is still pending, and in fact it will be picked as part of a design contest proposed by NASA to different companies.
Once Gateway is built, NASA plans to launch the Artemis III mission, whose crew will be stationed at Gateway, using the Orion module to expand the space station's living space. scientists will be able to study the effect on astronauts outside the substantial protection of the Earth's magnetosphere.
During these short stays, they will test whether radiation exposure can be reduced to an acceptable amount. Also, as part of the mission, two members of the crew will remain in orbiting Gateway while the other two will land at the south pole of the Moon, where they will remain for about one week.
They too will be expected to perform several moonwalks, again to examine samples of water ice and perform other scientific observations around the pole. It is proposed that included in this team will be the first female astronaut on the Moon, although names have not yet been picked. The spacesuits they use will be a vast improvement over the Apollo counterparts.
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Chapter 4: How does the Artemis program aim to establish a lunar base?
Or perhaps he was simply trying to make some kids feel like they were part of something big and important. What we do know is that he never let setbacks squander his determination and belief in his vision. Thanks to him, even for a brief moment, Zambia entered the space race against the US and Soviets. This is a vibrant story of one man's audacity, determination and self-belief,
The reality is that not everyone who dreams of making it into space ends up going there. But whether he meant to or not, Uncoloso told the world, we are here, we are Zambian, and we are free. In a way, he reminded us that those epic, larger-than-life endeavours like reaching for the stars and exploring the vastness of the universe stem from a desire innate in us all.
And that in itself makes it a story worth telling. There are exactly two space stations in orbit around planet Earth right now. One of them you will have heard of, the International Space Station. But what about the other one? Tiangong, or the Heavenly Palace, is the third in a series of space stations launched and maintained by the People's Republic of China.
It has been in orbit since 2021, yet western media reports much less on what happens aboard this second enigmatic bastion hanging in space's expanse. So, what is going on up there? I decided to look into it. And when I found the list of their past and current experiments, and as I pieced together what it meant, the sheer scale of China's ambitions stunned me.
We are familiar with the sorts of things being done on the ISS, experiments aimed at better understanding how humans might adapt to space environments and uncovering the mysteries of our universe and its physics. inevitably general in scope, reflected in the differing priorities and the emphases of each nation collaborating within it. But inside Tiangong, the goal is more focused.
What is that goal? The answer might surprise you. I'm Alex McColgan, and you're watching Astrum. Join with me today as we uncover the goings-on within Tiangong Space Station, and discover what implications this might have on the future of humanity in space.
Unlike the ISS which has been in orbit for over 25 years, China's own space station endeavours only started in 2011 with the launch of the first Tiangong space station. That's right, they launched the whole space station in one go. This was not a complex construction.
Tiangong-1 was a simple tube-like prototype consisting of a sleeping and living station for Chinese astronauts, otherwise known as taikonauts, a habitable lab for docking and orbital experiments, and a module for propulsion. The whole station was only 10.4 meters long compared to the ISS 108 meters, and had two solar panels on either side.
Its simplicity was a reflection of China's purposes for it, to master rendezvous and docking techniques, and to only dip their toes in the water of space habitation. Tiangong-1 was only in space for a little under 7 years. China did succeed in sending both crewed and uncrewed missions to Tiangong-1, and buoyed by this success, they upped their game with plans for a larger space station.
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