The moon is a natural satellite of the Earth. Half a century ago, man first stepped on its surface. Since then, real opportunities have appeared for direct scientific research of the surface and bowels of this celestial object. Are there any 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 within the entire solar system. The Moon is 384 thousand kilometers from Earth. Its equatorial radius is 1738 km, which approximately corresponds to 0.27 of the Earth's radius.
Before talking about minerals on the moon, one should describe as much as possible the internal structure of this celestial body. So what do scientists know today?
Like 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, impurities of nickel, sulfur and some other elements are also found. Around the core is a layer of partially molten matter, resulting from 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, in the lunar relief, two zones can be distinguished: mountainous continental and low - the so-called lunar seas. The latter are nothing more than huge craters formed as a result of the bombardment of the lunar surface by asteroids and meteors.
Moon surface
We are already accustomed to realizing that under our feet there is a multimeter thick sedimentary rock - limestone, sandstone, clay. But the moon is not the earth. Everything is arranged differently here, and rocks of sedimentary origin are simply not there and cannot be. The entire surface of our satellite is covered with regolith or “lunar soil”. This is a mixture of fine clastic material and fine dust formed as a result of constant meteorite bombardment.
The thickness of the regolithic layer of the moon can reach several tens of meters. And in some parts of the surface it does not exceed two centimeters. Outwardly, this layer resembles a gray-brown dust blanket. By the way, the term “regolith” itself comes from two Greek words: “lithos” (stone) and “reos” (blanket). Curiously, the regolith in its smell reminded astronauts of the aroma 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 to Earth over 300 kilograms of regolith from different parts of the satellite’s surface. This allowed scientists to conduct a thorough analysis of the lunar soil.
As it turned out, regolith is friable and rather heterogeneous. Moreover, it sticks well to lumps, which is explained by the absence of an oxide film. In the upper layer of regolith (no deeper than 60 nanometers), particles up to one millimeter in size prevail. Lunar soil is completely dehydrated. It is based on basalts and plagioclases, which in their composition are almost similar to earthly ones.
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: A 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 conceal any mineral sensations. But still, what minerals are on the moon? Let's get it right.
Oil, coal, natural gas … There are no and cannot be these mineral resources on the Moon, because they are all of biogenic origin. Since there is no atmosphere or organic life on our satellite, their formation is simply impossible.
However, various metals lie in the bowels of the moon. In particular, iron, aluminum, titanium, thorium, chromium, magnesium. Potassium, sodium, silicon and phosphorus are also found in the composition of lunar regolith. Using the automatic interplanetary station Lunar Prospector, launched in 1998, it was also possible to determine the location of a 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:
- Basalts of the lunar seas (pyroxene, plagioclase, ilmenite, olivine).
- KREEP rocks (potassium, phosphorus, rare earths).
- ANT-rocks (norit, troctolite, anorthosite).
Among other things, significant reserves of water in the form of ice were also discovered on the Moon (a total of about 1.6 billion tons).
Helium 3
Perhaps the helium-3 isotope is the main and most promising in terms of fossil exploration on the Moon. Earthlings consider it as a possible thermonuclear fuel. So, according to the American astronaut Harrison Schmidt, the extraction of this light helium isotope in the near future will be able to solve the problem of the energy crisis on Earth.
Helium-3 in scientific circles is often called the "fuel of the future." On Earth, it is extremely rare. All reserves of this isotope on our planet are estimated by scientists no more than one ton. Based on this, the cost of one gram of a substance is equal to one thousand dollars. At the same time, one gram of helium-3 can replace up to 15 tons of oil.
It is worth noting that it will not be easy to establish the process of producing 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.
Mine Projects on the Moon
Mankind is seriously thinking about the colonization of the moon, and about the development of its mineral resources. Theoretical mining on the moon is quite possible. But it’s very difficult to practically implement it. Indeed, for this, on the surface of our satellite, it will be necessary to create an appropriate industrial infrastructure. Moreover, everything necessary will have to be brought from the Earth - materials, water, fuel, equipment, etc.
Nevertheless, certain projects are already being developed. So, the American company SEC plans to seriously engage in the extraction of moon ice and the production on its basis of fuel for spacecraft. 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 at space objects. Specialists of this department hope that mining will become a reality by 2025.
But China is seriously interested in the rare-earth elements contained in the lunar crust. To study and develop this resource, the country plans to establish a special research base on the moon. The Russian Federation is not far behind the leading space powers. By 2025, Roscosmos plans to create a series of robots for mining on the moon.
