UNDERSTANDING THE LUNAR GOLD RUSH: What is Moon Mining and Why are Major Powers Interested?
Amid a global competition among major powers like the United States, China, and India to explore the earth’s only natural satellite and uncover its secrets, Russia successfully launched its first moon-landing spacecraft in 47 years on Friday.
Russia announced that it would launch more lunar missions and then explore the possibility of a joint Russian-Chinese manned mission and even a lunar base. NASA has spoken of a “lunar gold rush” and explored the possibilities of lunar mining.
Why are the superpowers so interested in what’s out there?
MOON
The Moon, which is 384,400 km (238,855 miles) from our planet, dampens the Earth’s wobble on its axis, ensuring a more stable climate. It also causes the tides in the world’s oceans to rise.
Current thinking is that it was formed when a massive object crashed into the earth about 4.5 billion years ago. Debris from the collision formed the moon.
Temperatures vary: in full sun they rise to 127 degrees Celsius, while in the dark they drop to around minus 173 degrees Celsius. The Moon’s exosphere does not protect against the Sun’s radiation.
WATER
The first definitive discovery of water on the Moon was made in 2008 by the Indian Chandrayaan-1 mission, which detected hydroxyl molecules spreading on the surface of the moon and concentrated at the poles, according to NASA.
Water is vital to human life and can also be a source of hydrogen and oxygen – and these can be used as rocket fuel.
HELIUM-3
Helium-3 is an isotope of helium that is rare on Earth, but according to NASA, there are an estimated one million tons of it on the Moon.
This isotope could produce nuclear energy in a fusion reactor, but because it is not radioactive, it would not produce hazardous waste, according to the European Space Agency.
Rare earth metals
According to Boeing research, the moon is home to rare earth metals used in smartphones, computers and advanced technologies, including scandium, yttrium and 15 lanthanides.
HOW DOES MOON MINING WORK?
It’s not entirely clear. Some infrastructure should be established on the moon. Lunar conditions mean that robots would have to do most of the hard work, even if the water on the moon would allow for a long-term human presence.
WHAT IS THE LAW?
The law is unclear and full of loopholes.
The 1966 United Nations Treaty on Outer Space states that no state can claim sovereignty over the moon – or other celestial bodies – and that space exploration should be conducted for the benefit of all countries.
But lawyers say it’s unclear whether or not a private entity could claim sovereignty over a portion of the moon.
“Despite these potentially high stakes, relatively little existing policy or governance applies to space mining,” The RAND Corporation said in a blog post last year.
The 1979 Lunar Treaty states that no part of the moon “shall become the property of any State, international intergovernmental or non-governmental organization, national organization or non-governmental community, or any natural person”.
It has not been ratified by any major space power.
In 2020, the United States announced the Artemis Treaties, named after NASA’s Artemis lunar program, to build on existing international space law by establishing “safe zones” on the moon. Russia and China have not joined the agreements. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge Editing by Peter Graff)
