Minerals on the Moon: theories, mining projects, soil composition and the required level of technological development

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

The moon is a natural satellite of the Earth. Half a century ago, man first set foot on its surface. Since then, real opportunities have appeared for direct scientific studies of the surface and interior of this celestial object. Are there minerals on the moon? What are these resources, and can they be mined? You will find answers to these questions in our article.

The moon and its internal structure

Our planet has only one natural satellite - the Moon. It is the closest satellite to the Sun in the entire solar system. The Moon is at a distance of 384,000 kilometers from Earth. Its equatorial radius is 1,738 km, which roughly corresponds to 0.27 Earth's radius.

Before talking about minerals on the Moon, you should describe the internal structure of this celestial body in as much detail as possible. So what do scientists know today?

Like the planet Earth, the Moon consists of a core, mantle and outer crust. The lunar core is relatively small (only 350 km in diameter). It contains a lot of liquid iron, there are also impurities of nickel, sulfur and some other elements. Surrounding the core is a layer of partially molten material that resulted from the crystallization of magma about 4 billion years ago (shortly after the formation of the Moon itself).

The thickness of the lunar crust varies from 10 to 105 kilometers. Moreover, its thickness is noticeably smaller on the side of the satellite that faces the Earth. Globally, two zones can be distinguished in the lunar relief: mountainous continental and lower - the so-called lunar seas. The latter are nothing more than huge craters formed as a result of the bombardment of the surface of the Moon by asteroids and meteors.

Surface of the Moon

We are already accustomed to realizing that under our feet there is a multi-meter stratum of sedimentary rocks - limestones, sandstones, clays. But the moon is not the earth. Here everything is arranged differently, and there are simply no rocks of sedimentary origin and cannot be. The entire surface of our satellite is covered with regolith or "lunar soil". It is a mixture of fine detrital material and fine dust, formed as a result of constant meteorite bombardment.

The thickness of the regolith layer of the Moon can reach several tens of meters. And in some areas of the surface, it does not exceed two centimeters. Outwardly, this layer resembles a gray-brown blanket of dust. By the way, myselfThe term "regolith" comes from two Greek words: "lithos" (stone) and "rheos" (blanket). Curiously, the smell of regolith reminded the astronauts of burnt coffee.

It should be noted that the cost of transporting one kilogram of matter from the moon is estimated at about 40 thousand dollars. Nevertheless, the Americans, in total, have already delivered over 300 kilograms of regolith to Earth from different parts of the satellite's surface. This allowed scientists to conduct a thorough analysis of the lunar soil.

As it turned out, the regolith is loose and quite heterogeneous. At the same time, it sticks together well into lumps, which is explained by the absence of an oxide film. In the upper layer of regolith (no deeper than 60 cm), particles up to one millimeter in size predominate. The lunar soil is completely dehydrated. It is based on bas alts and plagioclases, which are almost similar in composition to Earth.

So, are there any minerals on the Moon under the regolith layer? You will learn more about this later in our article.

Minerals on the Moon: complete list

Do not forget that the Earth and the Moon are, in fact, half-sisters. Therefore, it is unlikely that the bowels of our only satellite hide any mineral sensations. But still, what minerals are there on the moon? Let's figure it out.

Oil, coal, natural gas… These mineral resources do not and cannot exist on the Moon, because they are all of biogenic origin. Since there is no atmosphere or organic life on our satellite, their formationsimply impossible.

However, various metals lie in the bowels of the moon. In particular, iron, aluminum, titanium, thorium, chromium, magnesium. The composition of the lunar regolith also contains potassium, sodium, silicon, and phosphorus. With the help of the automatic interplanetary station Lunar Prospector, launched in 1998, it was also possible to determine the localization of a particular metal on the lunar surface. So, for example, a map of the distribution of thorium on the moon looks like:

In general, all lunar rocks and minerals can be divided into three groups:

Bas alts of the lunar seas (pyroxene, plagioclase, ilmenite, olivine).
KREEP-rocks (potassium, phosphorus, rare earth elements).
ANT-rocks (norite, troctolite, anorthosite).

Among other things, significant reserves of water in the form of ice have also been discovered on the Moon (about 1.6 billion tons in total).

Helium-3

Perhaps the main and most promising in terms of development of fossils on the moon is the helium-3 isotope. Earthlings consider it as a possible thermonuclear fuel. Thus, according to the American astronaut Garrison Schmidt, the extraction of this light isotope of helium in the near future will be able to solve the problem of the energy crisis on Earth.

Helium-3 is often referred to as the "fuel of the future" in scientific circles. On Earth, it is extremely rare. All reserves of this isotope on our planet are estimated by scientists at no more than one ton. Based on this, the cost of one gram of a substance is equal to one thousand dollars. However, one gramhelium-3 can replace up to 15 tons of oil.

It is worth noting that it will not be easy to establish the process of extracting helium-3 on the surface of the moon. The trouble is that one ton of regolith contains only 10 mg of valuable fuel. That is, to develop this resource on the surface of our satellite, it will be necessary to build a real mining and processing complex. Obviously, this is not feasible in the coming decades.

Moon mining projects

Humanity is already seriously thinking about the colonization of the moon, and the development of its mineral resources. Theoretical mining on the moon is entirely possible. But in practice, this is very difficult to implement. Indeed, for this, on the surface of our satellite, it will be necessary to create an appropriate industrial infrastructure. Moreover, everything you need will have to be brought from Earth - materials, water, fuel, equipment, etc.

However, certain projects are already being developed. Thus, the American company SEC is planning to seriously engage in the extraction of lunar ice and the production of fuel for spacecraft based on it. For this, it is planned to use both robots and living people. At the end of 2017, NASA announced the acceptance of applications with technological proposals for the extraction of resources from space objects. The specialists of this department hope that mining will become a reality by 2025.

But China is seriously interested in rare earth elements contained in the lunar crust. To study and masterof this resource, the country plans to establish a special research base on the moon. The Russian Federation does not lag behind the leading space powers. By 2025, Roscosmos plans to create a series of robots for mining on the Moon.

In conclusion…

There are no minerals on the Moon as such. At least in our, earthly, understanding of this term. Nevertheless, a number of metals have been found in the lunar crust, in particular, in the regolith. Among them are iron, aluminum, titanium, thorium, chromium, magnesium and others. The extraction of mineral resources on the surface of the Moon is theoretically possible, but practically not yet feasible.