月球某些资源的开发利用前景

21世纪月球探测的主要趋势是建立月球基地,开发利用月球的矿产资源,能源和特殊环境,为人类社会的可持续发展发挥长期而有效的支撑作用,通过对月海玄武岩中的钛铁矿,克里普岩中的U,Th,REE和月壤中的拟－3在月面的含量与分布的系统分析,月海玄武碉中蕴藏有极丰富的钛铁矿,TiO2总资源量超过70万亿t,钛铁矿还是月球基地生产水和火箭燃料的主要原料;克里普岩是未来月球探测与研究的热点之一,其蕴藏有巨量的铀,钍,钾,磷和稀土元素资源;月壤长期受到太阳风的辐射,使其蕴藏有极其丰富的氢,氦,氧,氮等气体资源,其中氦－3的资源量大于100万t,它是一种可供人类社会长期使用的,安全,清洁,高效,廉价的核聚变发电燃料,其含量与月壤的化学成分,矿物组分,颗粒大小等有密切的关系。

Prospect of Exploration and Utilization of Some Lunar Resources

The establishment of the lunar base is the main trend of the lunar exploration and detection in the 21st century, because the exploration and utilization of the lunar mineral resources, energy and specific environment will effectively support the sustainable development of human society. The authors make a systematic study of the distributions and contents of ilmenitite in lunar basalts, those of U,Th, REE in KREEP rocks and those of He 3 in the lunar regolith. Then the authors show two points: (1) More than 70 000 billion tons of titanium dioxide occur in lunar basalts. The ilmenitite is the major raw material for the production of water and missile fuel in the lunar base. (2) KREEP rocks, one of the hot issues for the detection of and research into the lunar planet, contain a gigantic mount of uranium, thorium, calcium, phosphorus and rare earth elements. The lunar regolith has been affected by the solar wind for a long time, so that it contains such abundant gas resources as hydrogen, helium, oxygen and nitrogen. In particular, the He 3, amounting to over 1 million tons, is a kind of nuclear fusion fuel for the production of electrical power. This kind of fuel, safe, clean, highly efficient and cheap, can be applied to the human society for a long time. The content of helium is closely associated with the chemical composition, mineral assemblage and grain size of the lunar regolith.