Engineering News
Mining on the Moon
There are many valuable resources on the Moon, despite it looking so barren and empty. There are lots of minerals which are near and, on its surface, and these can be used to make a future lunar base for future missions. It is also theoretically possible to turn these materials into breathable air for astronauts and to go one step further, it could also be used as a launchpad for future missions within the solar system. China recently blocked the export of rare earth elements to Japan and this concern shows how the need for rare earth metals is only growing in demand. If successful, then these minerals which are used widely for devices such as mobile phones and other technology could all one day come from the moon.
However, the moon is a very ruthless place, with no protection from an atmosphere. In the daytime, anything on its surface faces extreme heat from the Sun, while experiencing freezing temperatures on any other surface not exposed to the Sun. In addition to this, there is the constant threat from electrostatic dust particles which are as rough as sandpaper. Also, there are always high-velocity particles flying around which make quick repairs very difficult. It is fair to say that to mine anything on the moon with these unfavourable conditions, presents one of the biggest engineering challenges faced yet.
According to recent data from NASA, it is highly likely that the moon harbours more metals underneath its surface than previously thought. Not only could this affect the current theory of where the Moon came from, it will also arouse the interest of those looking to mine on the moon. Recent evidence suggests that the Moon could harbour a high quantity of metals such as iron and titanium, this was discovered by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft. The current hypothesis is that large meteors hitting the Moon have left huge reserves of metal oxides beneath the Moon’s surface.
The Moon’s surface is mostly made of a fine soil called regolith, and this also contains some larger rocks formed through meteorite impacts. This soil is known to contain many minerals such as iron, aluminium, and titanium, there is also the highly valuable helium-3. This could one day be used as fuel for nuclear fusion reactors. As of April 2020, then President Trump, signed an executive order to encourage companies to mine the Moon. This started a programme which, led by the US, aims to return humans to the Moon, for long-term exploration, and this could further be used as a launchpad to Mars.
Sources: NASA, Mining-technology
Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear fusion has always been something has been sought after to solve all of world’s energy problems, but has just never been commercially successful. Many wealthy investors are currently hopeful that the problem with nuclear fusion reactors may be solved sooner rather than later. The Commonwealth Fusion System (CFS) recently raised $2 billion in private investments, which includes the multi billionaire Bill Gates. This is definitely the largest amount of capital placed on nuclear fusion energy, and if successful then it could ultimately replace all the fossil fuels we rely on to obtain energy. However, some people are critical abd point to money having been invested before only to result in failures.
Fusion energy is definitely the answer to many of the energy problems we face as a society, not to mention the threat of global warming. Previously, the National Ignition facility (NIF) was able to use a powerful laser to heat up a small sized sample of hydrogen to levels above that of the temperature of our Sun’s core. These are the temperatures needed in order to kick-start the fusion process, and the NIF reports that they were able to harvest 70% of the energy used by the laser. Furthermore, this is a huge improvement in the field of fusion energy, however we are still not quite there with achieving economical nuclear fusion just yet.
It is clear that nuclear fusion offers a lot of promise and it is a good source of clean energy. There is also another project which is the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in France is growing rapidly and showing lots of potential. Also, as the interest in fusion energy grows, a Canadian company called General Fusion recently announced that it will build a demonstration plant in the UK Atomic Energy Agency’s Culham site in Oxfordshire. Although many start up companies are accelerating the development of nuclear fusion energy, many experts think that it is unlikely to make a considerable contribution until at least the early 2040s. Therefore, it would be wise to evaluate the market for fusion energy 20 or 30 years down the line rather than comparing it to the market or society of today.
In the coming future solar and wind will provide most of the energy that we use on a daily basis. Therefore it is important to note that fusion energy will actually compete in a market that includes lots of clean energy sources. Some experts reason that fusion could also be complementary to nuclear fission as it may be able to be used in countries that can not use fission due to political reasons. To conclude, there is a great global race currently going on to commercialise nuclear fusion and this means some of the best minds are coming together to finally solve this problem.