Helium-3

[ryanrulz37]

According to Colin in 2320AD, Helium-3 is one of the most strategically important resources in Human space apart from tantalum. Helium-3 is used to fuel fusion reactors including those that provide the power for most military and commercial starships. Yet there seems to be little or no mention of it at all in 2300AD.

Colin stated that Helium-3 stripmining is a major business on the Moon, were mining equipment resembling farming combine harvesters sift through 3-5 metres of top soil dirt and dust to obtain the helium. This is also mentioned in Transhuman Space which goes into it in much greater detail.

Considered a wastefull and largely unprofitable activity in the Transhuman Space setting, Lunar processing plants use auomatic machinery such as robotic bulldozers to scoop up the regolith, ovens to bake the soil and conveyers and waste procesing plants. 500,000 tons of raw material (an area of about 1,000 square yards to a depth of 4 inches) is required to produce one pound of Helium-3. This massive effort is justified by the amount of energy each pound of helium can generate when fused with deuterium, and also by the side effects of the processing that yields economically useful quantities of oxygen and hydrogen which support other Luna colony projects.

According to Transhuman Space extracting Helium-3 from Saturn and the other gas giants is much cheaper, as it can be scooped directly out of the atmosphere by specially designed drones which lift the gas out to orbiting refineries and Titan, were the Helium-3 is shipped to Earth and elsewhere by tankers. It has also led to the colonisation of the outer Solar System by the major powers who are eager to secure a supply of Helium-3.

Wouldn't the proliferation of Helium-3 mining or refining outposts also occur in the Solar System in 2300/2320AD, and also in Alpha Centauri and the other major colonial systems?

 

[Colin]

Yes. However, fusion power is most common in starships. Most ground and space-based power nets make use of solar power as the primary power source. Only in areas that aren't conducive to solar power, or for large concentrations of heavy industry, is fusion power used.

 

[ryanrulz37]

Most ground and space-based power nets make use of solar power as the primary power source.

Earth/Cybertech sourcebook has a break down of power production for many countries in 2300AD.

Among the major powers in 2300AD, solar power accounts for the following percentage of power production.

97% Argentina
92% Britain
91% Brazil
89% Indonesia
87% Canton
86% Germany
83% Australia
80% America
78% Mexico
72% Russia
70% France
69% Manchuria
68% Scandinavian Union
66% Azania
58% Iran
56% Nigeria
50% Canada
48% Ukraine
05% Japan
00% Texas

Atomic power (I would expect this to be fusion rather than fission by 2300AD) accounts for the following percentage of power production.

45% Canada
40% Texas
37% Japan
32% Ukraine
28% Scandinavian Union
24% Russia
21% Azania
21% Manchuria
18% America
18% France
10% Canton
10% Iran
08% Australia
08% Germany
07% Indonesia
03% Britain
01% Argentina
00% Brazil
00% Mexico
00% Nigeria

Only in areas that aren't conducive to solar power, or for large concentrations of heavy industry, is fusion power used.

According to your sourcebook concentrations of heavy and orbital industry on Earth includes all Tier 1 & 2 nations such as America, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Manchuria. Heavy industry is also found to a lesser or degree in Flanders, Russia, Scandinavian Union, Ukraine and the rest of Europe, as well as Argentina, Australia, Azania, Brazil, Canada, Indian States, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria, Texas, and other parts of the French Empire and South America.

Friehaven, Nouvelle Provence and Wellon on Tirane are heavily industrialised, and the colonies on Beowulf, BCV-4, Chengdu, Epsilon Indi, Mu Herculis, Neubayern and Tau Ceti are also likely to have some concentrations of heavy industry. Colonies mentioned with fusion power plants include Alamo, Alderhorst, Botany Bay, Chyuantii, Crater, Dunkelheim, Heidelscheimat, Kie-Yuma, Ellis, Huntsland, Montana, New Columbia, Paulo, Sans Souchi, Xixiang, the British and French colonies of BCV-4, and Elysia and the German and Japanese colonies of Joi.

 

[Colin]

Orbital industry would be solar, rather then fusion. Gas giant mingin, while a good idea, has to contend with the hefty radiation around Jupiter, and, to a lesser extent, Saturn, not to mention the fuel requirements to boost out of a gas giant's gravity well. Maybe some sort of tether technology?

And to be honest, I haven't read 2320 in a while. I suspect that if I wrote it today, I would change some things. Distribution of tantalum, to reflect real worlds vaules and the relative scarcity og the Ta-180 isotope. The whole lunar mining thing (still exists, but is fading in favour of gas-giant mining), and I would put more emphasis on space-based resources and industries. I would also pay closer attention to the whole subject of interface travel. I'm not really satisified with GDW's thruster, nor my implementation of it.

 

[ryanrulz37]

Fair enough. One of the reasons I brought this up was to give a reason for the establishment of outposts or small colonies in the outer reaches of important systems.

In the 2300AD the outer Solar System and most other systems seem to be either thinly populated backwaters or have nothing whatsoever. The early development of the stutterwarp drive and the opening up of interstellar colonisation would partialy explain why developing the Solar System lost its appeal, and has hardly any significant colonies beyond Luna. But more should be there besides some minor outposts on Mercury and Mars, a few mines in the Belt and the odd science or military base on the moons of the Gas Giants, yet alone the other systems.

 

[Colin]

As it happens, I agree completely. Given 23xx's interface costs, you would see much more exploitation of asteroid and low-gravity/vacuum worlds. Not so much for gas giants, for cost reasons, at least without tether technology.

 

[ryanrulz37]

I think the concept of functional tether technology is entirely feasable by the 24th Century, and NASA has been seriously researching the technology since the late 1960's. An experimental tethered satellite system was first flown on the Shuttle Atlantis in 1992, while NASA deployed another tethered system in 1996 from the Columbia which reached 19km before the tether broke. The ESA also deployed a tethered system in 2007 which reached 32km, and NASA is currently planning a tether satellite researcher to achieve a 100 km deployment.

In Transhuman Space which is set in the 22nd Century other technology is being used. In this case a couple of hundred fusion powered automated controlled Montgolfiere baloons with onboard atmospheric processors and a lifespan of 50 years. The baloons float just beneath Saturns lower cloud layer and are buyoed by atmospheric gas heated in a complex process by the onboard reactor, with dismountable tanks attached by tether. Once the baloon fills its tanks with Helium-3 it contacts its control base which sends an automated spaceplane specifically designed to fly in a gas giants atmosphere. The spaceplane uses a high-thrust fusion pulse drive to lift it from Saturn's gravity well, with an auxilary fission air-ram for additional manouvers and other functions. It deorbits and snags the tanks by skyhook and then lift off and rendezvous with its control base. Its a very expensive operation and 130,000 tons of atmosphere are processed to produce 1 ton of Helium-3. But 1 ton of Helium-3 is worth at least 2 million US$, which sort of justifies the effort.

 

[Anders]

Failed cores may make even better helium mining outposts: lower gravity (so rockets sending back helium can be cheaper), higher abundance (Jupiter 0.18, Saturn 0.06, uranus 0.26 and neptune 0.32 mol-fraction) and the cooler and less radioactive environment might enable some efficient industrial processes.