What use does the moon have to humans? Its value, economic benefits, etc.? What would happen if there was no moon?

The moon is rich in mineral deposits. According to reports, the reserves of rare metals on the moon are greater than those on the earth. There are three main types of rocks on the moon. The first is maria basalt, which is rich in iron and titanium; the second is anorthosite, which is rich in potassium, rare earths and phosphorus, and is mainly distributed in the lunar highlands; the third is mainly It is a breccia composed of 0.1 to 1 mm lithic particles. Moon rocks contain all the elements and about 60 kinds of minerals found on the earth, 6 of which are not found on the earth.

Scientists point out that in order to develop the moon, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive exploration of the moon, understand the moon's resources, and gradually develop the resources. The moon is extremely rich in mineral resources, and the 17 most common elements on earth are abundant on the moon. Taking iron as an example, the 5 centimeter-thick sand on the lunar surface alone contains hundreds of millions of tons of iron, and the entire lunar surface has an average of 10 meters of sand. The iron on the surface of the moon is not only extremely abundant, but also easy to mine and smelt. It is reported that the iron on the moon is mainly iron oxide, as long as the oxygen and iron are separated; in addition, scientists have developed ways to use lunar soil and rocks to make cement and glass. Aluminum is also abundant in the lunar surface.

The lunar soil is also rich in helium 3. Helium fusion using deuterium and helium 3 can be used as an energy source for nuclear power plants. This fusion does not produce neutrons, is safe and pollution-free, and is an easy-to-control nuclear fusion. , not only can be used in ground nuclear power plants, but also is particularly suitable for space navigation. It is reported that the content of helium 3 in the lunar soil is estimated to be 715,000 tons. For every ton of helium 3 extracted from lunar soil, 6,300 tons of hydrogen, 70 tons of nitrogen and 1,600 tons of carbon can be obtained. Judging from the current analysis, due to the large amount of helium 3 on the moon, it will undoubtedly be a timely help for the earth, which will be relatively short of energy in the future. Many space powers have made obtaining helium 3 one of their important goals in developing the moon.

On March 5, 1998, NASA released a big news to the world: the "Lunar Prospector" probe discovered

that there is a large amount of liquid water at the poles of the moon. The reserves are about 100 million tons to 300 million tons, and they are distributed within nearly 50,000 square kilometers of the lunar north pole and nearly 20,000 square kilometers of the south pole. If the soil water layer at the bottom of lunar craters is very deep, then the water reserves on the moon may eventually reach 1.3 billion tons.

Water resources on the moon were confirmed for the first time. This exciting news made scientists ecstatic and had a strong response all over the world.

This discovery has great implications for mankind. The establishment of a permanent lunar base in the next century is of great milestone

significance.

Scientists believe that the water resources present on the moon may be the most valuable "real estate" that humans have in the solar system.

Even if the lunar water reserves are only 33 million tons, it is enough to ensure that 2,000 people live on the moon for more than 100 years, and extracting water from the lunar soil is a "simple" process In the process, soil mixed with ice is collected and heated, so that water can be obtained after the ice melts

. It is estimated that the ice water found now can fill a lake 11 meters deep and 10 square kilometers in area. Lunar water is the source of life. It can not only provide astronauts with drinking and living purposes, allowing them to stay on the moon longer

but also in space. Cultivate crops or feed animals; water is also a source of power and can be decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen to provide fuel for planetary exploration spacecraft, greatly extending the service life of the spacecraft. With water, scientists can easily Exploiting various natural resources on the moon can also use the moon as an outpost for exploring the universe; water is also of great significance for studying the formation and properties of the moon.

Of course, it is not easy to develop water resources on the moon, because the ice on the moon is not concentrated in a certain frozen layer.

A large amount of ice is mixed with rocks and dust. , its content is estimated to only account for 0.3%-1%. In addition, since the lunar craters

have never seen the light of day, and the atmosphere inside the craters has been extremely chaotic, they need machines that can work at low temperatures starting from -230°C at the poles of the moon. However, manufacturing such

The machine is extremely difficult.

Nonetheless, since the moon has water, the day when humans return to the moon, establish a lunar base, and develop lunar resources

will become the goal of science and technology in the 21st century. In addition, the development and utilization of lunar water resources will also turn space tourism from an ideal into a reality.

It is very necessary for humans to conduct scientific exploration and research activities on the moon, develop and utilize lunar resources, and establish a permanent lunar base. As for the lunar base construction and lunar surface activity plans, there have been many suggestions. Due to different purposes and different proposers, the various proposals are very different. But as long as we analyze these proposals from an overall conceptual perspective, they are inseparable from the following development stages.

①Preparation stage for base construction: survey of terrain and resources;

②Construction of outpost base: temporary residence on the lunar surface, preparation for transition to the next stage;

③Establish a lunar production base: long-term residence on the moon, production activities begin;

④Developing lunar base: production activities enter the normalization stage;

⑤Mature Lunar base (i.e. permanent lunar base): establish various industries and become economically independent.

The construction of the lunar outpost means that mankind has entered the second stage of lunar base construction. It should be said that human development of lunar activities at this time was only the beginning. Young scientists will go to the lunar outpost and participate in practical inspections on the front line, hoping to master more first-hand information and dedicate their beautiful youth to the development and construction of the moon. Young and powerful industrialists are attracted by the rich resources on the moon. They will open up new battlefields and go to the moon to mine, build factories, and start businesses. They will accelerate the use of lunar resources and develop their ambitions on the moon.

What must be emphasized here is that when a large number of people enter the lunar base and enter the construction stage of the lunar production base, the problems that need to be solved are much more complex and difficult than the construction of outpost bases. This is because as the number of people increases, residences need to be built on site, and relying on astronaut residences on the lander is far from meeting the requirements. The lunar surface is in a vacuum, and the surface temperature changes from -170°C to +130°C, with a huge temperature difference. In addition, it also needs to withstand the test of dangerous environments such as cosmic rays and tiny meteorites. In order for astronauts to live in such a severe natural environment for a long time, the structures of various buildings in the base must have a high degree of air tightness, heat insulation, radiation resistance, etc. To this end, scientists have sketched out the basic outline of the lunar production base, proposed the layout of industrial, agricultural production, and scientific research on the moon, and provided it to designers as a basis for architectural design.

Based on the research and analysis of lunar rock samples and a large amount of relevant data, the principle of priority production of products on the moon is determined, mainly to make full use of lunar resources and produce necessary raw materials for the expansion of the lunar base, focusing on Oxygen production, metal smelting, preparation of building materials, etc. In order to achieve this goal, people have conducted detailed research on the production process and preparation methods of the processing plant on the moon.

Scientists have long carried out research on methods of extracting oxygen from lunar surface soil. They used lunar sand retrieved by the Apollo spacecraft to conduct experiments and combined the ilmenite and hydrogen in the lunar sand at a high temperature of 1000°C. The contact generates water, and then the water is electrolyzed to extract oxygen. Research shows that approximately 70 tons of lunar regolith are needed to extract 1 ton of oxygen. Taking into account the special circumstances of production on the moon, it is recommended that at the same time as the construction of the lunar base, a set of small chemical processing equipment should be considered. Using solar energy as power, approximately 100 kilograms of liquid oxygen can be prepared every day. The specific process is to use lunar rocks to react with methane at high temperatures to generate carbon monoxide and hydrogen. In a second, cooler reactor, the carbon monoxide reacts with more hydrogen and is reduced to methane and water. The water is then condensed and electrolyzed into hydrogen and oxygen, the oxygen is stored for use, and the hydrogen is sent into the system for recycling. It is predicted that the lunar oxygen production equipment was originally used to provide oxygen to astronauts on the moon, but they do not need much oxygen. A base of 12 people only needs 350 kilograms of oxygen per month. A set of oxygen-producing equipment can produce a considerable amount of oxygen after continuous operation. Therefore, when building a lunar base, a permanent liquid oxygen reservoir should be built at the same time to supply spacecraft with low-temperature propellant fuel.

What is very significant is that the "slag" obtained after chemical treatment during the oxygen production process has become a high-quality by-product. This is because it is rich in free silicon and metal oxides that can be smelted. As long as appropriate industrial methods are used, it can continue to be smelted to produce titanium metal that is extremely valuable in industry. The titanium production process proposed by the scientists is to mechanically crush and magnetically separate the "slag" to extract iron-titanium oxide, hydrogenate it at a high temperature of 1273°C to generate titanium oxide, and then replace the iron with sulfuric acid. Then it is mixed with carbon, chlorine gas is introduced at a temperature of 700°C, and titanium tetrachloride is generated after a chemical reaction. It is then heated at a high temperature of 2000°C, magnesium is added to remove chlorine, and finally molten titanium is obtained.

The refining method of aluminum is more novel. The aluminum on the lunar surface is composed of a complex structure called plagioclase. If conventional refining methods are used to produce aluminum, it will be difficult to succeed on the lunar surface. . After repeated trials and research, scientists have proposed a new process for aluminum smelting. The specific method is to crush the moon rock, heat and melt it at 1700°C, and then cool it in water to 100°C to make multi-quality balls, which are then crushed and 100°C sulfuric acid is added to them to leach aluminum. After removing the silicide by centrifugal separation and filtration, it is then subjected to pyrolysis reaction at a temperature of 900°C to obtain a mixture of alumina and sodium sulfate. Then the sodium sulfate is washed away and dried. While mixed with carbon and heated, chlorine gas is added to react with it to generate aluminum chloride. After electrolysis, the final product - pure aluminum is obtained.

The construction industry cannot do without glass, so the production of glass on the lunar surface is particularly important. Normal glass is composed of 71 to 73% silicon oxide, 12 to 14% sodium carbonate, and 12 to 14% calcium oxide.

The lunar soil contains 40 to 50% silica, and silica glass is the main type of glass made on the lunar surface. The refining method is relatively simple, that is, adding various trace additives as needed to the lunar soil, using sulfuric acid to dissolve some useless components, melting it at 1500-1700°C, and then rolling and cooling to make lunar glass.

As the development of lunar resources has achieved quite astonishing results, the trial production phase has come to an end. The products of small trial production are far from meeting the demand, and reproduction needs to be further expanded, so that lunar production activities will gradually move toward mass production. Production. At the same time, as the number of people entering the moon to participate in development has increased, the lunar base has become overcrowded and needs to be renovated and expanded. This undoubtedly requires a large amount of building materials, especially the largest amount of concrete. Fortunately, the sand, gravel, and cement needed to make concrete can all be obtained locally. Concrete structures have the advantages of low cost, easy molding, and radiation resistance. They are the most promising building materials for building lunar bases. The new lunar base can be built using prefabricated concrete cabins according to the design. Of course, there are many forms of lunar concrete components used. Here we introduce a general cabin section that is in the shape of a hexagonal prism. The frame and wall panels are first made of concrete and then assembled. The biggest advantage of this form of cabin is that it is very flexible. Because it is a hexagonal body, it can radiate and expand in the parallel direction through each surface, and can also expand in the vertical direction (upward). The walls, ceiling, and floor can be disassembled at any time. , and can also be combined and spliced ??according to needs to expand the base and adjust the space. Finally, the cylindrical pressurized cabin inside it is connected to form an assembled lunar base.

In addition to developing resources and developing production, people build bases on the moon. The ultimate goal is to expand the moon into a settlement area, so that more people can go sightseeing and sightseeing on the moon, or bring their whole family with them. Move to the moon and become a lunar man. As a result, its construction scale is larger, more building materials are needed, and a simpler construction method is required. Some scientists have suggested that a construction technique called "dig-and-fill" used in Antarctica could also be applied to the moon. The bulldozer will dig a trench in the soft rock or "floating soil" on the lunar surface, and then load the cylindrical pressurized cabin into the trench. After the connection is tightened, it will be covered with a thick layer of lunar material. Rock and soil can be heat-resistant, insulating, heat-insulating, and can prevent radiation. Scientists have designed a lunar research experimental base, whose main tasks are to conduct astronomical observations, geomorphological and geological surveys, and mineral resource exploration on the lunar surface. Its design size can accommodate 60 astronauts and can provide energy and daily necessities for more than 6 months of residence.

The lunar surface research and experimental base consists of a spherical cabin and a cylindrical cabin forming a ring, which is divided into two parts: the working area and the living area. The work area consists of a research experimental cabin, an industrial production cabin, a crop cultivation cabin, an ecological environment life support cabin, a management cabin, an energy cabin, a material supply cabin, and a spaceport. In addition to producing crops, the crop cultivation cabin also raises animals such as chickens, sheep, rabbits, and fish, and cultivates algae, ferns, fruits, and vegetables. The ecological environment life support cabin is equipped with gas purification treatment, water treatment, and excrement treatment facilities. The energy cabin is mainly solar power generation equipment, with a large area of ??solar arrays placed on the flat ground outside the cabin. The spaceport is a little further away from the research and experiment base. It is a place used to receive and launch lunar spacecraft. Entering the living area is a different world. The environment here is beautiful, people feel comfortable and happy living there, and can wash away the fatigue of the day's work. There are public places, residences and supporting living facilities in the living area. The public place is used for astronauts to communicate emotions, chat, exchange information, have meals, parties, entertainment, etc. The astronauts can dance to the soft music, or drink happily in the images, and get enough rest. The ceiling and walls are painted white as a whole, making people feel bright and comfortable. The personal residence is a space for the astronauts to sleep, read newspapers, and entertain themselves. The interior decoration is softer with cool colors such as blue and green, and the lighting arrangement makes the space full of three-dimensionality. Living in such an environment feels very comfortable. Quiet and easy to fall asleep. Living supporting facilities include gyms, medical care centers, etc.

What kind of lunar base should be built is a question that many people are concerned about. Some energy scientists suggest that the moon contains large amounts of silicon, iron, aluminum, titanium, calcium, oxygen and other elements. There are enough of these elements on the earth for human use, and mining them is not a top priority. Only helium is unique on the earth, especially helium-3. It is an energy source that is not found on the earth and has considerable reserves. It is an ideal fuel for future nuclear fusion reactors. Therefore, the development and establishment of a lunar energy base should be given priority. Other energy experts pointed out that focus should also be placed on building a lunar solar power base. In fact, there is no contradiction between the two, which is enough to show that it is urgent to solve the future energy shortage problem of the earth.

Since the moon and the earth have similar geological characteristics and both contain rich nuclear resources and raw materials needed to build nuclear power plants, it is very suitable to build nuclear power plants on the moon. Turbines and water are used for nuclear power generation on Earth, but on the moon, nuclear energy can be directly converted into electrical energy by using high-efficiency composite energy conversion systems such as thermionic and thermoelectric generators. The envisioned lunar nuclear energy base will include nuclear fuel supply plants, nuclear power generation facilities and power transmission facilities.

The electricity on the moon is transported to energy relay satellites in geostationary orbit through short-wavelength laser beams with high transmission efficiency, that is, lasers in the ultraviolet region. On the relay satellites, the electrical energy is converted into high transmission efficiency in the air. The wavelength of the laser is then transmitted to a receiving station located on Earth. The receiving station then distributes the energy to various areas for users to use.

Lunar nuclear energy bases are usually built in the polar regions of the moon, because the polar regions are the best places for energy transmission to the earth. Once the lunar nuclear energy base is completed and enters stable operation, it will all be operated, controlled, maintained and repaired by robots, and will never pose a pollution threat to humans. In order to establish a lunar nuclear energy base, there are many engineering and technical problems that need to be studied and solved as soon as possible, such as ultra-efficient energy conversion systems, space nuclear reactors, space robots, high-power output efficient laser generation equipment, receiving equipment, and laser transmission safety technology wait.

As mentioned earlier, helium-3 on the moon not only has abundant reserves, but is also a clean nuclear energy, which is very beneficial to purifying the earth's environment and is quite attractive to humans. If it is mined from the moon and transported to the earth for human consumption, it will undoubtedly benefit mankind a lot. It is predicted that the helium-3 extracted from the moon's ore is enough to meet the energy needs of the entire earth for 400 years. It has been calculated that the construction of a 500-megawatt deuterium-helium-3 nuclear fusion power station requires about 50 kilograms of helium-3 per year. In other words, one only needs to dig a 1.5 square kilometers area and 3 meters deep on the moon every year. pit. Moreover, it does not contain radioactive materials and can produce more energy. Using helium-3 as raw material, the cost of nuclear reactors will be reduced by half. The development of helium-3 lunar resources alone is enough for people to understand the profound social and economic significance of returning to the moon.

In short, the lunar base will become the beginning of human existence extending to planets beyond the earth, the first immigration area for human space, and also a transit station for human beings to march to other planets in the solar system. The construction of the lunar base is a new technological revolution that will surely have a significant and far-reaching impact on the world's culture, economy, society, science and technology and other fields.