Mineral samples from the moon contained abundant quantities of helium 3, a variant of the gas used in lasers and refrigerators as well as to blow up balloons.

"When compared to the Earth, the moon has a tremendous amount of helium 3," said Lawrence Taylor of the U.S. Planetary Geosciences Institute.

"When helium 3 combines with deuterium (an isotope of hydrogen) the fusion reaction proceeds at a very high temperature and it can produce awesome amounts of energy," Taylor said.

"Just 25 tons of helium, which can be transported on a space shuttle, is enough to provide electricity for the United States for one year," said Taylor, who was in the north Indian city of Udaipur for a global conference on moon exploration.

Helium 3 is deposited on the lunar surface by solar winds and would have to be extracted from moon soil and rocks.

The Japan Times Weekly: Dec. 4, 2004
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