Scientists pointed out that in order to develop the moon, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive exploration of the moon, understand its resources and gradually develop it. The moon is extremely rich in mineral resources, and the most common element 17 exists in large quantities on the moon. Take iron as an example. Only the sand with a thickness of 5cm on the surface of the moon contains hundreds of millions of tons of iron, while the sand with a thickness of10m on the whole surface of the moon averages out. The surface of the moon is not only extremely rich in iron. In addition, scientists have developed ways to make cement and glass from lunar soil and rocks. On the surface of the moon, the content of aluminum is also rich.
The lunar soil is also rich in helium -3. The helium fusion of deuterium and helium -3 can be used as the energy source of nuclear power plants. This fusion does not produce neutrons, which is safe, pollution-free and easy to control. It can be used not only for ground nuclear power plants, but also for space navigation. It is reported that the content of helium -3 in lunar soil is estimated to be 710.5 million tons. For every ton of helium -3 extracted from lunar soil, 6300 tons of hydrogen, 70 tons of nitrogen and 1600 tons of carbon can be obtained. According to the current analysis, because there is a large amount of helium 3 in the moon, it is undoubtedly a timely help to the earth with relatively short energy in the future. Many space powers regard developing the moon as one of their important goals.
1on March 5, 998, NASA released a big news to the world: the "lunar probe" was launched.
At present, there is a large amount of liquid water at the two poles of the moon, with a reserve of about 0.1-300 million tons, distributed in the North Pole of the moon of nearly 50,000 square meters.
Square kilometers, nearly 20,000 square kilometers in South Pole. If the water and soil layer at the bottom of the lunar crater is deep, then the moon
Global water resources reserves may eventually reach 654.38+300 million tons.
Water resources on the moon were confirmed for the first time. This exciting news made scientists all over the world ecstatic and produced in succession.
The response is strong, because this discovery is a milestone for mankind to establish a permanent moon base in the next century.
Meaning.
Scientists believe that the water resources on the moon may be the most precious real estate in the solar system.
Even if the water reserve of the moon is only 33 million tons, it is enough to ensure that 2000 people will live on the moon 100 years.
Extracting water from soil is a "simple" process. Soil mixed with ice is collected and heated to melt the ice.
Get the water. It is estimated that the ice water found now can fill a lake with a depth of 1 1 m and an area of 10 square kilometer.
Spherical water is the source of life, which can not only provide drinking and living for astronauts, but also make them stay on the moon for a long time.
Longer, you can also cultivate crops or feed animals in space; Water is also a power source, which can be decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen.
The planetary exploration spacecraft provides fuel, which greatly prolongs the service life of the spacecraft. With water, scientists can easily develop the moon.
All kinds of natural resources in the world, you can also use the moon as an outpost to explore space; Water plays an important role in studying the origin of the moon.
And its nature is also very meaningful.
Of course, it is not easy to develop water resources on the moon because the ice on the moon is not concentrated in a frozen layer.
A large amount of ice is mixed with rocks and dust, and its content is estimated to be only 0.3%- 1%. In addition, due to the lunar crater,
It's already dark, and there's too much mixing in the pit. I need a machine that can work at the low temperature of -230℃ at the poles of the moon, but I made this.
This kind of machine is extremely difficult.
Nevertheless, since there is water on the moon, the day when human beings return to the moon, set up lunar bases and develop lunar resources.
Will become the goal of 2 1 century science and technology. In addition, the development and utilization of lunar water resources will also make space tourism from ideal to reality.
Real.
It is very necessary for human beings to carry out scientific exploration and research activities on the surface of the moon, develop and utilize lunar resources, and establish a permanent lunar base. As for the construction of lunar base and lunar surface activities, there have been many suggestions, and the suggestions are quite different because of different purposes and different proponents. However, as long as these suggestions are analyzed from the overall concept, they cannot be separated from the following development stages.
① Preparation stage of base construction: investigation of topography and resources;
(2) Establishing an outpost: living on the moon to prepare for the transition to the next stage;
(3) Establishing a lunar production base: living on the surface of the moon for a long time and starting production activities;
(4) Developing the lunar base: production activities have entered the normalization stage;
Mature lunar base (permanent lunar base): establish various industries and be economically independent.
The construction of the lunar outpost means that mankind has entered the second stage of the construction of the lunar base. It should be said that human activities to develop the moon at this time are only the beginning. Young scientists will go to the moon outpost to take part in the actual investigation, hoping to master more first-hand information and dedicate their beautiful youth to the development and construction of the moon. Industrialists in their prime are attracted by the rich resources on the moon, and they will open up new battlefields and go to the moon.
It must be emphasized here that when a large number of people enter the lunar base and turn to the construction stage of the lunar production base, the problem to be solved is much more complicated and difficult than the construction of the outpost. This is because the number of people has increased, and relying on astronauts to live on the lander is far from meeting the requirements. The surface of the moon is vacuum, and the surface temperature changes from-170℃ to+130℃. Also need to withstand the test of cosmic rays, micrometeorite and other dangerous environments. In order to make astronauts live in such a harsh natural environment for a long time, the structures of various buildings in the base must have high air tightness, heat insulation and radiation resistance. Scientists outlined the basic outline of the lunar production base and put forward the layout of industrial and agricultural production and scientific research on the moon, which can be used as the basis for designers' architectural design.
Based on the research and analysis of lunar rock samples and a large number of related materials, the principle of focusing on products produced by the moon is determined, which is mainly to make full use of lunar resources and produce raw materials necessary for expanding the lunar base, with emphasis on oxygen production, metal smelting and preparation of building materials. In order to achieve this goal, people have studied the production technology and preparation methods of processed plants on the moon from many aspects.
Scientists have been studying the method of extracting oxygen from the surface soil of the moon for a long time. They used the moon sand retrieved by Apollo spacecraft for experiments. At the high temperature of 1000℃, ilmenite in lunar sandy soil contacts with hydrogen to generate water, and then oxygen is extracted from the water by electrolysis. Research shows that it takes about 70 tons of lunar topsoil to extract 1 ton of oxygen. Considering the special situation of production on the moon, it is suggested that a small chemical treatment equipment, powered by solar energy, should be equipped while building the lunar base, which can produce about 100 kg of liquid oxygen every day. The specific technological process is that moonstone reacts with methane at high temperature to generate carbon monoxide and hydrogen. In the second reactor with lower temperature, carbon monoxide reacts with more hydrogen and is reduced to methane and water. Then the water is condensed and electrolyzed into hydrogen and oxygen, and the oxygen is stored for later use. Hydrogen is sent to the system for recovery. It is predicted that the lunar oxygen-making equipment was originally used to provide oxygen for astronauts on the surface of the moon, but they didn't need much oxygen. A base with a scale of 12 people only needs 350 kilograms of oxygen per month. A set of oxygen-making equipment can produce a considerable amount of oxygen after continuous operation. Therefore, when building a lunar base, a permanent liquid oxygen warehouse should be built at the same time.
It is worth noting that the "slag" obtained after chemical treatment in the process of oxygen production has become an excellent by-product. This is because it is rich in meltable free silicon and metal oxides. As long as appropriate industrial methods are adopted, titanium metal with great industrial value can continue to be smelted and refined. The technological process of producing titanium proposed by scientists is to extract iron and titanium oxides from "slag" by mechanical crushing and magnetic separation. 1273℃ hydrotreating to generate titanium oxide, then replacing iron with sulfuric acid, then mixing with carbon, introducing chlorine at 700℃, generating titanium tetrachloride after chemical reaction, then heating at 2000℃, adding magnesium to remove chlorine, and finally obtaining molten titanium.
The refining method of aluminum is more novel. The aluminum on the surface of the moon is composed of a complex structure called plagioclase. If aluminum is made on the surface of the moon by conventional refining methods, it will be difficult to succeed. After repeated experiments and research, scientists put forward a new process for refining aluminum. The specific method is to crush the moon rock, heat it to 1 0,700℃, and then cool it in water to 1 0,000. Aluminum can be leached by adding sulfuric acid at 100℃. After centrifugal separation and filtration to remove silicide, the mixture of alumina and sodium sulfate was obtained at 900℃. Then sodium sulfate is washed and dried, and then mixed with carbon. While heating, chlorine gas is introduced to react with it to generate aluminum chloride, which is electrolyzed to obtain the final product-pure aluminum.
Glass is indispensable to the construction industry, so it is particularly important to produce glass on the surface of the moon. Generally, glass consists of 765,438+0 ~ 73% silica, 65,438+02 ~ 65,438+04% sodium carbonate and 65,438+02 ~ 65,438+04% calcium oxide. Moon soil contains 40 ~ 50%. That is, various trace additives are added to the lunar soil as required, some useless components are dissolved with sulfuric acid, then melted at 1500 ~ 1700℃, and then calendered and cooled, so that the lunar glass can be made.
With the amazing achievements in the development of lunar resources, the trial production stage has come to an end, and the small-scale trial production products are far from meeting the demand, so it is necessary to further expand reproduction and make the lunar production activities gradually move towards mass production. At the same time, due to the increasing number of people entering the moon to participate in the development, the completed lunar base has become crowded, and it is necessary to complete the reconstruction and expansion of the base project, which undoubtedly requires a lot of building materials. Especially the largest amount of concrete. Fortunately, the sand, stone and cement needed to make concrete can be obtained from local materials. Concrete structure has the advantages of low cost, easy molding and radiation resistance, and is the most promising building material for building the lunar base. The new lunar base can be built with concrete prefabricated cabins as designed. Of course, there are many forms of lunar concrete components. Here, we introduce a universal module in the shape of a hexagonal prism. Firstly, the concrete frame and wallboard are made, and then assembled and molded. The biggest advantage of this cabin form is its flexibility. Because it is hexagonal, it can radiate and expand in parallel and vertical directions (upward) through all surfaces. Walls, ceilings and floors can be dismantled at any time, and they can also be assembled and spliced as needed to expand the base and adjust the space. Finally, the cylindrical pressurized chambers nested in it are connected.
People go to the moon to set up bases. In addition to developing resources and production, the ultimate goal is to expand the moon into an immigrant area, let more people visit the moon, or move their families to the moon to be a lunar man. In this way, its construction scale is larger, more building materials are needed, and simpler construction methods are needed. A construction technique called "dig-and-fill" applied in Antarctica is also fully applicable to the moon. Bulldozers will dig a ditch in the soft rock or "residual soil" on the surface of the moon, and then put a series of cylindrical compression chamber into the ditch. After fastening the connection, it will be covered with a thick layer of lunar rock and soil, which can resist heat, heatstroke and radiation. Scientists have designed a research and experimental base for the lunar surface. Its main tasks are astronomical observation on the surface of the moon, geomorphological geological survey, mineral resources exploration and so on. Its design scale can accommodate 60 astronauts and provide energy and daily necessities for life for more than 6 months.
The lunar surface research and experiment base consists of a spherical module and a cylindrical module, which is divided into two parts: a working area and a living area. The work area consists of research and experiment cabin, industrial production cabin, crop planting cabin, ecological environment life support cabin, management cabin, energy cabin, material supply cabin and space port. The crop planting cabin not only produces crops, but also raises chickens, sheep, rabbits, fish and other animals and plants algae and ferns. There are also fruits and vegetables. The eco-environmental life support cabin is equipped with gas purification treatment, water treatment and excreta treatment facilities. The energy cabin is mainly solar power generation equipment, and a large area of solar cell array is placed on the flat ground outside the cabin. The space port is a little far from the research and experimental base, and it is used to receive and launch lunar spacecraft. Entering the living area is another world, where the environment is beautiful and people feel comfortable and happy living in it. It can wash away the fatigue of a day's work. There are public places, houses and living facilities in the living area. Public places are for astronauts to exchange feelings, chat, exchange information, have meals, get together and entertain. Astronauts can dance in soft music or drink in videos and get enough rest. The ceiling and walls are painted white, which makes people feel bright and comfortable. It is a space for astronauts to sleep, read books, read newspapers and entertain themselves. Based on the blue-green cool color, the interior decoration is softer, and the lighting arrangement makes the space three-dimensional. Living in such an environment makes them feel very quiet and easy to fall asleep. Living facilities include gymnasiums, health care centers, etc.
What kind of lunar base should be built is a concern of many people. Some energy scientists have suggested that there are a lot of elements such as silicon, iron, aluminum, titanium, calcium and oxygen on the moon, and these elements are enough for human use on the earth, so mining them is not a top priority. Only helium is unique on the earth, especially helium -3, which is an energy source that is not available on the earth and is quite rich in reserves. Priority should be given to the development and establishment of lunar energy bases. Other energy experts pointed out that the lunar solar power base should also be concerned. In fact, the two are not contradictory, which shows that it is urgent to solve the problem of energy shortage in the future of the earth.
Because the moon and the earth have similar geological characteristics and are rich in nuclear resources and raw materials for building nuclear power plants, it is very suitable for building nuclear power plants on the moon. On the earth, turbines and water are used for nuclear power generation, while on the moon, nuclear energy can be directly converted into electric energy by using efficient composite energy conversion systems such as thermions and thermoelectric generators. The power on the moon, including nuclear fuel supply plants, nuclear power generation facilities and power transmission facilities, will be transmitted to energy relay satellites in geostationary orbit by short-wavelength laser beams with high transmission efficiency, that is, lasers in the ultraviolet region. On the relay satellite, electric energy will be converted into laser with high transmission efficiency in the air, and then transmitted to the receiving station on the earth. The receiving station distributes energy to various areas for users to use.
The lunar nuclear energy base is usually built in the polar region of the moon, because the polar region is the best place to transmit energy to the earth. Once the lunar nuclear energy base is built and put into stable operation, it will be operated, controlled, maintained and repaired by robots, which will never pose a pollution threat to human beings. In order to establish the lunar nuclear energy base, there are many engineering problems that need to be studied and solved as soon as possible, such as ultra-efficient energy conversion system, space nuclear reactor, space robot and high-power output and high-efficiency laser power generation equipment.
As mentioned above, helium -3 on the moon is not only rich, but also a clean source of nuclear energy, which is very beneficial to purify the earth's environment and attractive to human beings. If it is mined from the moon and transported to the earth for human enjoyment, it will undoubtedly benefit mankind. It is predicted that helium -3 extracted from lunar minerals is enough to meet the energy demand of the whole earth for 400 years. A 500 MW power station is expected to be built. About 50 kilograms of helium -3 is needed every year. That is to say, as long as a pit with an area of 1.5 square kilometers and a depth of 3 meters is dug on the surface of the moon every year, and it does not contain radioactive materials, it can generate more energy. Taking helium -3 as raw material, the cost of nuclear reactors will be reduced by half. Only by developing the resources of Helium -3 moon ball can people understand the far-reaching social and economic significance of returning to the moon.
In a word, the lunar base will be the beginning of human existence extending to other planets outside the earth, the first settlement area of human space, and the transit point for human marching to other planets in the solar system. The construction of the lunar base is a new technological revolution, which will have a great and far-reaching impact on the world culture, economy, society, science and technology and other fields.