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Table of Contents

[Clay; staff writer; Former Apollo Astronaut and Senator Says Mining Helium on the Moon Could Solve The Global Energy Crisis; Popular Science; 05 May 2011; http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-05/former-apollo-astronaut-says-moon-mining-could-solve-global-energy-crisis; retrieved 28 Jun 2011]

Schmitt’s idea isn’t novel--he thinks the U.S. should go back to the moon, this time to mine the surface for helium-3, an isotope of helium that is rare on earth but relatively bountiful on the moon. The Russians have been talking about mining helium-3 from the moon for years, but they’ve never put forth a viable plan. Schmitt thinks his, all things considered, is pretty realistic.

So how does Schmitt’s plan break down? We’ll need $5 billion for a helium-3 fusion demonstration plant, because as of right now no such thing exists. We’ll also need to invest $5 billion more in a heavy-lift rocket capable of launching regular moon missions, something akin to the Apollo-era Saturn V.

A moon base for mining the stuff would cost another $2.5 billion, and though Schmitt didn’t really specify in his recent presentation to a petroleum conference, the other $2.5 billion could easily be chalked up to operating costs in an endeavor of this magnitude.

[Richard; Law Professor @ University of Wisconsin; A Legal Regime for the Mining of Helium-3 on the Moon: U.S. Policy Options; Fordham International Law Journal; Volume 33, Issue 2; 2009]

During more than four billion years in which the solar wind has impacted the Moon, significant amounts of He-3, in addition to particles of other ionized components of the solar wind, have

become embedded in the Moon's regolith-the loose and dusty upper layer of rocks and soil comprising much of the Moon's surface.13 While He-3 constitutes only a minute proportion of the lunar regolith, 14 it is estimated that, altogether, there may be as much as one million metric tons of He-3 potentially recoverable from the Moon's surface.'5 This amount of He-3 is theoretically equivalent to ten times the energy content of all of the coal, oil,and natural gas economically recoverable on Earth. 16 Since the Earth, unlike the Moon, possesses a magnetic field and atmosphere that deflect the solar wind, He-3 is rarely found naturally on Earth.1 7 The small amounts of He-3 available for research and experiment on Earth are derived principally from the decay of tritium used in thermonuclear weapons.
C. HE-3 IS THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE TO MODERN ENERGY SOURCES AND PRESENTS NO SIGNIFICANT ENGINEERING CHALLENGES-Oberg ‘06

[James; Moonscam: Russians try to sell the moon for foreign cash; The Space Review; 06 Feb 2006; http://www.thespacereview.com/article/551/1; retrieved 20 Jun 2011]

“There is nothing difficult from the engineer’s point of view in the production of helium-3,” he continued. “It is only a matter of investments.”

He calculates that an area of 10–15 square kilometers with the depth of three meters will be enough for producing one ton of helium-3. Engineers will have to remove and purify three meters of sand, enrich helium-3, and liquidify it for the delivery to the Earth.

“It is much easier to develop resources on the Moon than to produce oil on the Earth,” Galimov continued. “The Moon should become part of the Earth economy, as helium-3 is the only alternative to modern energy sources, which will ensure the normal environmental future of the planet,” he said.

[Mimi; “The Gospel According to Matthew;” Texas Monthly; February 2008]

Slashing through his entrée, barely stop-ping for breath, he describes a bleak future, in which demand for oil will always surpass supply, the price will continue to rise--"so fast your he ad will spin"--and all sorts of problems in our carbon-dependent world will ensue. As fuel shortfalls complicate global delivery routes and leave farmers unable to run their tractors, we will face massive food shortages. Products made with petroleum, from asphalt and plastic to fabrics and computer chips, will also become scarcer and scarcer. Standards of living will fall, and people will not be able to pay their debts. Lending will tighten, and eventually there will be major defaults. Growth will cease, and hoarding will set in as oil becomes increasingly rare. Then, according to Simmons, the wars will begin. That is the peak oil scenario.

[William; Acting Director, Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, Department of Homeland Security; "Caught by Surprise: Causes and Consequences of the Helium-3 Supply Crisis”; 22 April 2010; http://science.house.gov/sites/republicans.science.house.gov/files/documents/hearings/042210_Hagan.pdf; retrieved 17 Jul 2011]

[Dennis Ray; World on Fire: Two Scenarios of the Destruction of Human Civilization and Possible Extinction of the Human Race; Futures; December 2009; pgs. 683-93]

Israeli leaders and Zionist supporters have, likewise, stated for years that if Israel were to suffer a nuclear attack, whether from terrorists or a nation state, it would retaliate with the suicidal “Samson option” against all major Muslim cities in the Middle East. Furthermore, the Israeli Samson option would also include attacks on Russia and even “anti-Semitic” European cities In that case, of course, Russia would retaliate, and the U.S. would then retaliate against Russia. China would probably be involved as well, as thousands, if not tens of thousands, of nuclear warheads, many of them much more powerful than those used at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, would rain upon most of the major cities in the Northern Hemisphere. Afterwards, for years to come, massive radioactive clouds would drift throughout the Earth in the nuclear fallout, bringing death or else radiation disease that would be genetically transmitted to future generations in a nuclear winter that could last as long as a 100 years, taking a savage toll upon the environment and fragile ecosphere as well.

And what many people fail to realize is what a precarious, hair-trigger basis the nuclear web rests on. Any accident, mistaken communication, false signal or “lone wolf’ act of sabotage or treason could, in a matter of a few minutes, unleash the use of nuclear weapons, and once a weapon is used, then the likelihood of a rapid escalation of nuclear attacks is quite high while the likelihood of a limited nuclear war is actually less probable since each country would act under the “use them or lose them” strategy and psychology; restraint by one power would be interpreted as a weakness by the other, which could be exploited as a window of opportunity to “win” the war.

In other words, once Pandora's Box is opened, it will spread quickly, as it will be the signal for permission for anyone to use them. Moore compares swift nuclear escalation to a room full of people embarrassed to cough. Once one does, however, “everyone else feels free to do so. The bottom line is that as long as large nation states use internal and external war to keep their disparate factions glued together and to satisfy elites’ needs for power and plunder, these nations will attempt to obtain, keep, and inevitably use nuclear weapons. And as long as large nations oppress groups who seek self-determination, some of those groups will look for any means to fight their oppressors” In other words, as long as war and aggression are backed up by the implicit threat of nuclear arms, it is only a matter of time before the escalation of violent conflict leads to the actual use of nuclear weapons, and once even just one is used, it is very likely that many, if not all, will be used, leading to horrific scenarios of global death and the destruction of much of human civilization while condemning a mutant human remnant, if there is such a remnant, to a life of unimaginable misery and suffering in a nuclear winter.

[Julie; staff writer; Researchers and space enthusiasts see helium-3 as the perfect fuel source; Space.com; 30 June 2000;http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/helium3_000630.html; retrieved 01 Dec 2008]

Researchers and space enthusiasts see helium 3 as the perfect fuel source: extremely potent, nonpolluting, with virtually no radioactive by-product. Proponents claim its the fuel ofthe 21st century. The trouble is, hardly any of it is found on Earth. But there is plenty of it on the moon.

Society is straining to keep pace with energy demands, expected to increase eightfold by 2050 as the world population swells toward 12 billion. The moon just may be the answer.

"Helium 3 fusion energy may be the key to future space exploration and settlement," said Gerald Kulcinski, Director of the Fusion Technology Institute (FTI) at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
B. SPACE COLONIZATION OFFERS A HEDGE AGAINST HUMAN EXTINCTION AND THE LOSS OF ALL OTHER LIFE ON EARTH, PASSING BOTH A COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS AND MORAL TEST-Baum ‘09

[Seth; Professor of Geography; Penn State University; Cost-Benefit Analysis of Space Exploration: Some Ethical Considerations; Space Policy; 2009; http://sethbaum.com/ac/2009_CBA-SpaceExploration.pdf; retrieved 16 Jul 2011]