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UN Treaties in place state that the moon and its minerals arethe common heritage of mankind. 
Mining The Moon
An Apollo astronaut argues that with its vast stores ofnonpolluting nuclear fuel, our lunar neighbor holds the keyto Earth's future.
BY HARRISON H. SCHMITTIllustration by Paul DiMarePublished in the October 2004 issue.
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 Click to enlarge FUTURE MINERS: Robotic equipment would scrape and refine lunar soil.Helium-3 would be sent to Earth aboard a future space shuttle or perhapsbe shot from an electric rail gun.A sample of soil from the rim of Camelot crater slid from my scoop into aTeflon bag to begin its trip to Earth with the crew of
Apollo 17 
. Little did Iknow at the time, on Dec. 13, 1972, that sample 75501, along with samplesfrom
Apollo 11
and other missions, would provide the best reason to returnto the moon in the 21st century. That realization would come 13 years later.In 1985, young engineers at the University of Wisconsin discovered thatlunar soil contained significant quantities of a remarkable form of helium.Known as helium-3, it is a lightweight isotope of the familiar gas that fillsbirthday balloons.
 
 Click to enlarge HOT PROPERTY: America's last mission to the moon brought backevidence of large amounts of helium-3, a potential energy source.PHOTO BY NASASmall quantities of helium-3 previously discovered on Earth intrigued thescientific community. The unique atomic structure of helium-3 promised tomake it possible to use it as fuel for nuclear fusion, the process that powersthe sun, to generate vast amounts of electrical power without creating thetroublesome radioactive byproducts produced in conventional nuclearreactors. Extracting helium-3 from the moon and returning it to Earth would,of course, be difficult, but the potential rewards would be staggering forthose who embarked upon this venture. Helium-3 could help free the UnitedStates--and the world--from dependence on fossil fuels.That vision seemed impossibly distant during the decades in which mannedspace exploration languished. Yes, Americans and others made repeatedtrips into Earth orbit, but humanity seemed content to send only robots intothe vastness beyond. That changed on Jan. 14, 2004, when President
of 00

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