The discovery was made thanks to a camera aboard the US Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which swept the surface of the Moon, scrutinising it in seven different light wavelengths. NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
Posted on 10/13/2011 7:29:56 AM PDT by Red Badger
A new map of the moon has uncovered a trove of areas rich in titanium, which could one day be mined.
Lava flows that turned into rocks on the moon are enriched with titanium in concentrations far higher than what is found on Earth. The precious material could be used to construct equipment for lunar and other spacecraft.<
Detailed maps from a robotic NASA science satellite circling the moon show deposits as rich as about 18 percent, planetary geologist Jeffrey Gillis-Davis, with the University of Hawaii, told Discovery News.
“Up to 3 percent is considered high on Earth,” he said.
Why parts of the moon are so flush with titanium is a bit of a mystery, but scientists are taking advantage of the find to figure out the moon’s volcanic history. As the moon cooled and solidified, some elements, like titanium, didn’t mix well so they formed as a separate layer inside. The titanium was later tossed onto the moon’s surface during volcanic eruptions.
“I can identify all these different lava flows because they have a different composition, and that different composition is likely reflecting different sources within the mantle that it came from,” Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter associate project scientist Noah Petro, with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., told Discovery News.
Prized on Earth for its strength, ability to resist corrosion and light weight, titanium on the moon, which is mostly found in mineral called ilmenite, could be mined and processed for future use.
The compound, which contains titanium, iron and oxygen, could be heated to free the oxygen so it could be used for breathing or making rocket fuel. It also is studded with particles from the solar wind, including hydrogen and a rare form of helium, called helium 3, a fuel for a proposed fusion reactor.
“One of the things you want to do before you go back to the moon is figure out where your resources are and what your resources are,” Gillis-Davis said.
“I can identify all these different lava flows because they have a different composition, and that different composition is likely reflecting different sources within the mantle that it came from,” Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter associate project scientist Noah Petro, with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., told Discovery News.
Prized on Earth for its strength, ability to resist corrosion and light weight, titanium on the moon, which is mostly found in mineral called ilmenite, could be mined and processed for future use.
The compound, which contains titanium, iron and oxygen, could be heated to free the oxygen so it could be used for breathing or making rocket fuel. It also is studded with particles from the solar wind, including hydrogen and a rare form of helium, called helium 3, a fuel for a proposed fusion reactor.
“One of the things you want to do before you go back to the moon is figure out where your resources are and what your resources are,” Gillis-Davis said.
The discovery was made thanks to a camera aboard the US Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which swept the surface of the Moon, scrutinising it in seven different light wavelengths. NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
Oil is what we really need.
I repeat myself, and then I repeat myself...
And the Russians and the Chinese thank the US for the information.
Mine the Moon.
At half a $BILLION per trip, how much do you have to bring back to get the price below $50,000/oz.?
Of far more value than the titanium itself is the He3; which is present everywhere on the moon, but is most highly concentrated around titanium. Future prices for He3 could be as high as $1.5m per kilogram - with titanium being just a useful byproduct.
Helium-3 is a very rare gas with the potential to fuel clean nuclear fusion power plants. However, one of the problems is that the nearest supply of helium-3 is on the Moon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94rEqHP9dOQ
I'm surprised it wasn't "unobtainium."
You don't bring it back. It's value is in not having to lift it out of Earth's gravity well. If you do want it back on Earth, you don't put it in the cabin with returning crew. You just drop it. With an ablative coating or formed into a lifting body shape, you just send it on its way and gravity does the rest.
That's easy! Just put leftists in charge of doing the math, and tell them the Moon people will vote Democrat.
Apollo made the same discovery, using xray fluorescence.
Whether XRF or hyperspectral mapping, these only measure the surfaces of things and not the depths, and have no physical “grond truth” to determine scale factors or accuracy.
I think a core-drilling robot mission would settle the matter.
As for theusefulness of 18% ilmenite, we’d need to develop a vacuum process to reduce the oxides to metals and separate out the iron, then develop a vacuum process to fabricate Ti parts on the moon. Oh and no water can be used, in fact no aqueous processes at all can be used.
We found just putting footprints there and taking pictures to be pretty challenging.
If soetoro has his way, we´ll never go back to the Moon.
When you are mining on the moon, always be sure you know exactly where the laser beam is, Manny.
Everything is impossible until someone does it for the first time.
How convenient. Obama kills space program, titanium found on moon.
Go figure.
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