May 1 News Items

Russia Sees Moon Plot in NASA Plans, NASA Denies Offer (Source: Telegraph)
Mankind's second race for the moon took on a distinctly Cold War feel yesterday when the Russian space agency accused its old rival NASA of rejecting a proposal for joint lunar exploration. The claim comes amid suspicion in Moscow that the United States is seeking to deny Russia access to helium-3 in abundance that many believe could replace fossil fuels and even end the threat of global warming. The head of Russia's space agency said: "We are ready to co-operate but for some reason the United States has announced that it will carry out the program itself. Strange as it is, the United States is short of experts to implement the program."

NASA Denies Offer Was Made By Russia (Source: New Scientist)
NASA denies that it has received any proposal from Russia to conduct joint moon activities, despite media reports to the contrary. Still, some experts say the US agency is pursuing an increasingly isolationist stance and could be left behind as other nations forge new partnerships to explore space. "Nothing was offered and nothing was declined," said a NASA spokesman. "We have not received a moon cooperation offer from Roskomos."

He says the agency was still seeking international cooperation on projects that could include joint construction of a moon base and joint robotic moon missions. But he repeated NASA's stated intention to go it alone to build the Ares launch vehicle and Orion crew capsule that would propel people to the moon (see NASA seeks partners as budgets tighten. "It's a matter of space economic and security policies that we want to develop the Orion and Ares launch vehicles," he says.

What's Up With Helium-3? (Source: Telegraph)
While the Americans have either been coy or dismissive on the subject, Russia openly says the main purpose of its Moon program is the extraction of helium-3. Dismissed by critics as a 21st-century equivalent of the medieval alchemist's fruitless quest to turn lead into gold, some scientists say helium-3 could be the answer to the world's energy woes. A non-radioactive isotope of helium, helium-3 is a proven and potent fuel for nuclear fusion - so potent that just six metric tons would supply Britain with enough energy for a year.

As helium-3 is non-polluting and is so effective in such tiny quantities, many countries are taking it very seriously. Germany, India and China, which will launch a lunar probe to research extraction techniques in September, are all studying ways to mine the isotope. "Whoever conquers the moon first will be the first to benefit," said Ouyang Ziyuan, the chief scientist of China's lunar program. Energia says it will start "industrial scale delivery" of helium-3, transported by cargo space ships via the International Space Station, no later than 2020. Gazprom, the state-owned energy giant directly controlled by the Kremlin, is said to be strongly supportive of the project.

'Good News' at Virgin Galactic (Source: MSNBC)
Virgin Galactic, the company that’s working with physicist Stephen Hawking to get him into space someday, hails his better-than-expected ZERO-G flight as a significant step toward his goal. Virgin officials were impressed with the way ZERO-G organized Hawking's flight. "They carried out a fantastic operation, better than anyone - other than perhaps Steven - thought," Attenborough said. "Clearly the lessons learned during that flight can be shared."