🌑 Lunar South Pole Mining Race: US and China Compete for Strategic Resources
🌙 Lunar South Pole Mining Race: US vs China Compete for Moon Resources 🌍 Why the Lunar South Pole Matters The Moon’s south pole is now the centre of a new space race . Its permanently shadowed craters could hold vast amounts of water ice , which is crucial for the future of space exploration. Water ice can be: Converted into drinking water for astronauts Split into oxygen for breathing Processed into hydrogen fuel for rockets India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission boosted excitement by revealing that even shaded slopes may contain ice, making mining more feasible. Another valuable resource is helium-3 , a rare isotope with potential for clean nuclear fusion energy . China’s Chang’e-5 mission discovered a new mineral containing helium-3, sparking global interest in Moon mining. 🇺🇸 United States: NASA’s Artemis Program & Commercial Role The US is pushing ahead with NASA’s Artemis Program , which aims to return astronauts to the lunar south pole by 2...
