China's Chang'e 5 lunar module returned in 2020 with the first lunar samples collected since 1976, bringing with it a tiny piece of potential treasure: a lentil-sized rock of helium-3, which is regarded to be a potential source for fusion energy.
With its blanketing magnetic field, the isotope, which is created in the fusion reaction that drives the sun and carried in solar winds, is vanishingly uncommon on Earth. However, experts told The Wall Street Journal that it's thought to be common on the moon, where it may one day power future outposts or fund mining concerns.
The Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology is currently looking for an isotope called helium-3 in a 50-milligram sample of lunar rocks.
The institute is employing technology created specifically for determining helium concentration, while the container will also heat the sample and gradually raise the temperature of the samples until it reaches around 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 degrees Celsius).
Several organizations and businesses are investigating the possibility of generating electricity from fusion power, but technological and engineering challenges remain. The hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium, which are abundant on Earth, are used as fuel in most proposed fusion reactor designs.
Meanwhile, the institute is also studying the samples for the possible presence of the radioactive element uranium.
"The research is not only of great value for the potential exploitation of such nuclear energy resources on the moon in the future, but also of great significance for the scientific study of the moon itself and its relationship with the Earth," Li Ziying, head of the Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology, said.
Samples are being used to inform a variety of scientific projects across China. Li Xianhua, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Geology and Geophysics (IGGCAS), has researched the geochemical isotope properties of samples to try to calculate the age of the rocks. The findings could reveal new information on when the moon's most recent volcanic activity occurred, providing new insights into the moon's history.
However, China's research into helium-3 is still in its early stages.
"There's no element of the operation that's been figured out yet," Joseph Michalski, deputy director of the University of Hong Kong's Laboratory for Space Research, said
Machines that suction up the top layer of the moon's surface may be used in the future. These, according to Michalski, may be utilized to meet Earth's energy needs as well as power moon outposts for future missions.
