1. RETURN TO THE MOON?
Jackson Embrey, James Fedrovski;
Brent Schafer, Spencer Kelly, Maxwell Zhou
A presentation by the following
gentlemen:

2. 4.5 Billion years ago
Giant Impact:
Meteor hits
Earth
4.1-4.5 Billion years ago
Differentiation:
Moon is still
hot
Materials settle
by density
3.8-4.1 Billion years ago
Late Heavy
Bombardment:
Large objects
hitting the
lunar surface
Impact basins
form
2.0-3.8 Billion years ago
Geologic
Activity:
Mare surfaces
created by lava
flows
Present Day
Big Chill:
Moon is
geologically
dead, only
impacts modify
the surface
Geologic History

3. Climate
• Fairly simple.
• Temperature range: 123° C to -233° C
– That’s 253° F down to -387° F!
• Each day is 27.3 Earth days long
No atmosphere, weathering, or geologic activity

4. History of Exploration
• President JFK challenges the nation to visit the Moon by the
end of the decade
• USSR and the US each have several successful manned orbits
of Earth
• USSR’s Luna 9 was the first spacecraft to land safely on the
Moon
• US’s Surveyor 1 lands on the Moon 4 months behind Soviets
• US wins space race by sending a man to the Moon
• US Apollo 17, last US mission to have men walk on the Moon
• Chinese land the Chang'e 3 rover on the Moon
1961 1963 1966 1966 1969 1972 2013

5. Reasons for Boots on the Moon
• Moon is closest astronomical body to the Earth
– Travel time to Moon is in days, Mars takes months
• Moon has no atmosphere
– Allows testing of environmental systems
– Also useful for astronomical equipment
• Physically going to the Moon means more precise data
– Seismic scans, Age dating, rock composition, etc.
– We use the Moon as an analog for other terrestrial bodies
• Microgravity environment complicates many processes
– Allows for testing of equipment for Martian microgravity/
micro-atmosphere environment
Feasible Travel No Atmosphere Data Collecting Micro-Gravity
Woo!

6. Helium-3 (3He)
• The Helium-3 nuclear fusion
reaction leaves behind no
radioactive byproduct
• Nuclear reactions are 70% efficient
– 20% more efficient than coal
• or natural gas
• Apollo missions have confirmed the
existence of Helium-3
– which exists on the moon because
there’s no atmosphere/magnetic field

7. Return Investments from Space?
• Space missions: Helium-3 from Jupiter
– But not yet (at least with today’s technology)
– Helium-3 fusion needs to become more
industrialized
• So far only a small amount of Helium-3 can be
produced at a time
• Other economics motives:
– satellite communication
– potential lunar space stations
“Any large-scale private initiative focused on a return to the
Moon will have as its ultimate aim a return on investment from
production and sale of lunar resources and terrestrial power”

8. Money to be Made
• 1 metric ton of Helium-3
– sells for about $3 billion
• 25 metric tons of Helium-3
– are required to meet the US yearly energy needs
• 100 metric tons of Helium-3
– are required to meet world wide energy needs
• 4 missions at full capacity would cost $6.8 billion plus mining
costs
• $300 billion gross income yearly
• A space shuttle is able to carry 25 metric tons of Helium-3 per
trip
• 1.1 million metric tons of Helium-3 on the moon
• The net worth of the Moon would be $3.3 quadrillion