Lunar race: Humanity hopes it to be conflict-free

WORLD  18 August 2023 - 09:27

Recently, interest in the Moon has noticeably increased, primarily as a source of rare and strategic minerals. For example, on the Moon, there is an abundance of rare earth elements that are used in various branches of technology: radio electronics, instrument making, nuclear engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical industry, metallurgy, etc. La, Ce, Nd, and Pr are widely used in the glass industry in the form of oxides and other compounds. These elements increase the translucency of the glass.

Rare-earth elements are part of special-purpose glasses that transmit infrared rays and absorb ultraviolet rays, acid, and heat-resistant glasses. Rare earth elements and their compounds have gained great importance in the chemical industry, for example, in the production of pigments, varnishes, and paints, and in the oil industry as catalysts.

We also know of significant lunar reserves of such a strategic metal as titanium, which is widely used in the manufacture of aircraft and other vehicles, such as train cars and ships. The volumes of precious metals are currently unknown, but there is also gold and silver on the Moon.

The 60s and 70s saw the flash of interest in the Moon, when the USA sent its astronauts to the Moon 6 times, and the USSR landed Lunokhod 1 and 2 on the surface of the planet. The Americans obtained samples of lunar soil, which allowed them to gain a thorough knowledge of the geology of the planet closest to us and assess its potential as a source of minerals.

Then why didn’t the USA and the USSR continue to explore the Moon in subsequent years? The United States apparently considered that the data obtained in the 70s was sufficient to assess the Lunar potential and it was decided to return to the topic of the Moon when the earth's reserves of one or more types of strategic raw materials run out. As for the USSR, after its collapse, Russia did not have sufficient financial resources for development in this direction, mainly financing military and communications space programs.

Three countries - Russia, India, and China - are the most active in the lunar area today. The most far-reaching plans are in China, which has plans to build a manned station on the planet's surface.

Why is China so confident that a lunar station is feasible? Of course, the presence of ice on the moon. Ice can become not only a source of water and air for the inhabitants of the station, but after processing it can also serve as a source of energy for lunar transport and equipment. The Indian and Russian programs are not so ambitious and include only an orbiter and a lunar rover, at least that's what official sources say.

From the activity of the above countries, we can conclude that the West will soon awake from sleep and join the Moon race in full swing. Both the US and Europe have sufficient reserves not only to compete but also to outstrip colleagues not only from Russia and India but also from China. In this process, the main thing is to develop and approve at the UN level the rules of conduct and the framework in which each of the participants in the Lunar expeditions will act without violating the rights and space of other participants.

This is impossible, the reader will say, watching the bloody squabble of the ruling elites around the natural reserves of the developing countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. And yet, looking at today's relations of countries in space, such as international cooperation and the sharing of the ISS, and how joint agreements on this topic work, humanity remains hopeful that the Moon may become a pilot project for a more intelligent model of human coexistence.

Caliber.Az