美国有线新闻 CNN 欧洲航天局曝光探月计划 拟2025年实现月球采矿

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CARL AZUZ: What would you most likely find on the surface of the moon? Regolith, Dark Side, Liquid Water or Sea of Placidity¹. Regolith, also known as lunar soil or moon dust is all over the moon.

Of course, regolith is all over the earth too but that's not the kind the European Space Agency wants to start mining. It recently said it was teaming up with the European aerospace² company to look into mining lunar soil. Why? Lunar regolith, like regolith on earth has water and oxygen in it. But being able to mine those elements on the Moon could help support a potential base there. And if scientists are also able to extract³ helium 3, an isotope⁴ that's believe to be in lunar soil, they think that could be used to develop rocket fuel on the moon.

All that would add up to using the moon as a jumping off point to exploring deeper into space. Scientists hope to get this mission o?ff the ground by the year 2025. But there are some obstacles to overcome. For one thing, the rocket that would carry mining equipment to the Moon hasn't been built yet. It's currently⁵ under development. Also, the lander that would actually place the equipment on the Moon still has to be made.

So the European Space Agency is really just taking the first step here to see if mining the Moon is possible and if it makes sense in terms of funding and the resources it would require. Still, according to Fortune.com China and India are also looking into the moon as a possible source of helium 3. So there could be an international competition to mine the Moon taking place about 240,000 miles away from it.