China discovered the fuel of the future on the Moon  

And he hastily plans three more missions

China has rushed approval for three more new missions to the moon, a day after announcing it had found a new colorless, transparent, crystalline mineral that could prove critical to future energy production. The mineral was named Changesite-(Y) and presented to the Commission on New Minerals, Nonmenclature and Classification (CNMNC).

The samples of the mineral discovered by the Change-5 mission are estimated to be 1 billion years older than samples collected by previous US and Soviet missions. The new samples contain the first new mineral to be discovered in 40 years and are obviously a historic achievement .

Changesite-(Y) therefore appears to contain helium-3 , an isotope of helium that is almost non-existent on Earth and which may be extremely valuable for nuclear fusion. Without getting into technical details, helium-3 is ideal for nuclear fusion because it can produce huge amounts of energy, without emitting radiation that can damage the reactor.

The abundance of Sun-3 on the Moon has been a theory that has led to scenarios of mining it from Earth’s natural satellite, and now this energy source may be a new starting point for a new era of space competition between nations.

The discovery of China shows us what to look for and where to look for it. A single space capsule filled with helium-3 can power the US for an entire year, so it’s worth the huge cost of space mining.

For the record, 100 kg of helium-3 today is worth $140 million. At this price, the value of the helium-3 present on the moon is estimated at $1,543 quadrillion , not taking into account the sure increase in price when its use in the new tokamak nuclear fusion reactors becomes commercially available. Currently, the only nation mapping helium-3 reserves on the Moon is China, with the Change-4 mission launched in 2019.