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Isro aims to mine lunar dust
After achieving a remarkable fete of launching 104 satellites simultaneously, the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) is gearing up for another stupendous task.
Plans to explore Helium-3 rich lunar dust, transport it back to Earth by 2030
New Delhi: After achieving a remarkable fete of launching 104 satellites simultaneously, the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) is gearing up for another stupendous task.
Taking a giant step in ensuring energy security for the country, Isro now working on a plan to mine Helium- 3 rich lunar dust, generate energy and transport it back to Earth from the Moon by 2030.
Dr Sivathanu Pillai, professor at the space agency, and former chief of Brah- Mos Aerospace, in February, hinted about the plans to explore lunar dust. Recently he spoke at a conference in New Delhi, revealing the Isro’s top priority is to mine lunar dust.
The Central research and development (R&D) organisations are achieving major breakthroughs in space and other technological research. For instance, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre by the Automotive Research Association of India (Arai) recently completed successful testing of lithium-ion batteries. This will boost electric vehicles (EV) push in the country.
The Centre is exploring ways to sharing the technical know-how with automobile companies helping them produce commercial electric vehicles. Union Minister of State incharge of Atomic Energy and Space Jitendra Singh in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on March 29, said: “Technology is ready for transfer to Indian companies for undertaking the production of Liion batteries.
BHEL has expressed interest in the transfer of technology.” Isro also planned for manned missions to Moon, Mars and even aircraft development. Isro recently launched 104 satellites simultaneously enabling commercial roll out of lithium-ion batteries, to taking the lead in providing energy security. The latest plan of Isro on mining lunar dust assumes importance considering the Centre’s decision to lower the import bill on energy.
Indian government aims to bring down dependence in hydrocarbons by 10 percentage points by 2022. BP Energy outlook estimated that the energy demand is expected to outpace that of the other Bric (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries.
If mining lunar dust is successful, it’ll also help reduce pollution and import bill on energy. India’s energy import bill is projected to be $300 billion by 2030 from the present $150 billion. India imports around 80 percent of its oil and 18 percent of its natural gas requirements. India imported 202 million tonnes of oil in 2015-16.
