Posted on 08/28/2007 10:07:29 PM PDT by beezdotcom
“the black hole scenario” ....
I hope this ha nothing to do with Larry Craig!
ha = has
This story has more to do with the morons at the BBC, and government sponsored service and offers a warning for US documentarians as well.
Making up or misquoting facts for ratings is beyond simply unethical. It’s wrong and can lead to a misinformed public.
Want in on this dog fight?
Professor Schmitt is a consultant engaged in research with the Fusion Technology Institute on the utilization of resources from space, including the feasibility of using helium-3 from the moon to supply energy on Earth. He also teaches a popular course, Resources from Space. An astronaut on the Apollo 17 mission to the moon, Schmitt has first-hand knowledge of the space environment.
Interesting.... so the FTI is really pushing the helium-3 from the moon idea..... they should be presented with this article for response.
http://fti.neep.wisc.edu/gallery
This is the first time in a long time that I have seen the word “factoid” used correctly. A “factoid” is something that looks like a fact, but isn’t, as an android looks like a man, but isn’t. It isn’t a “little fact” or an interesting bit of trivia. The word was coined by Norman Mailer. It is properly used of, for instance, fictitious but plausible incidents inserted into biographical novels or films, particularly hostile ones, that make a character look bad.
The He3 on the moon is regularly cited by supporters of a return to the moon on FR. This is the first I’ve heard that it’s pretty much a myth.
Guilty! But in my defence, the great thing about He3 fusion is that not that its easy to do (it isn't - the coulumb barrier is indeed higher for 3He + D) but that the primary product is a high energy single proton. This can be contained using emg fields resulting in direct electricity generation, rather than trying to recover the fusion energy thermally.
However there are side reactions that create high-energy alphas that make the He3 route less attractive than it might be - and so the difficulty of the reaction becomes more important.
So us Regolith miners are just going to have to return to the best reason for going to the Moon - its got water, and it would make a great base for exploiting the outer solar system. If we don't, somebody else will.
Anyone know if “Angels and Demons” was ever made into a movie. Loved the Book!
Doomsday scenarios are not new.
A small,but not insignificant, minority of Manhattan Project physicists thought that the Trinity test could touch off a chain reaction that would consume the whole atmosphere.
Fortunately for us, they were wrong. There’s still air here. I’ve been to White Sands, and there’s still air there, too.
There are two fairly large hurdles:
An economic reaction has yet to be demonstrated, which is also the situation in all of Commercial fusion power demonstrations.
Moon mining for a Shuttle load of He3 is prohibitively expensive by any current mining technology.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
