Helium-3 that can help supply electricity for the next 10,000 years stirs new race to the moon

The new race to go back to the moon is on. This time, the United States doesn’t only have Russia on the other lane but a row of countries like China, Japan, India, and the United Kingdom. The reason is quite compelling with data of previous rock and soil collection from the lunar surface revealing that it is very rich in helium-3. Helium-3 from the moon can help us with our energy needs for the next 10,000 years.

International Race to the Moon is on

NASA is currently running the Constellation Program which aims to land man on the moon by 2020. They are looking at Ares I to bring the astronauts onto earth’s orbit where the smaller ship will join a massive Ares V to go to the moon. NASA is also on the drawing boards to construct lunar bases. Some reports though suggest that NASA is short of funds and it will be more realistic to set their goal to 2030.

The controversy in the space agency of the United States fuels competition from Asia.

Japan’s space exploration agency sets its time frame to send man to the moon by 2030. They have the space shuttle Kaguya orbiting the moon since 2007. The ship has been taking high definition pictures of the lunar surface and it has been utilizing two of its probes to collect vital lunar data. Kaguya 2 is set to go by 2015 putting a rover on the lunar soil to explore the environment.

China is also creating a loud buzz in the race. It has Chang’e 1 circling the moon for 16 months to map its surface. Too bad the satellite crashed last March 2009.  China doesn’t lose hope though and plans to land a rover on the moon by 2012 and bring back collected soil and rock from the moon by 2017.

India has its own Chandrayaan-1 which studied the mineral and chemical mapping of the moon. Clear pictures from as close as 5 meters from the surface of the moon were taken by the Indian probe.