Magnetic shielding and lunar resources
This new view of lunar magnetism has huge implications for the potential presence of valuable resources as well as information about the ancient Sun and Earth that may be buried in lunar soils.
Magnetic fields act as shields that prevent solar particles from reaching a planet or moon. Without a magnetic field, solar wind can hit the surface of the Moon directly and implant elements like helium-3 and hydrogen into the soil.
Helium-3 has many applications, but importantly, it could be a fuel source for nuclear fusion and future planetary exploration. The value of hydrogen comes from the fact that it can combine with oxygen to form water, another crucial resource in space.
Since the Moon did not have a long-lived magnetic field, these elements could have been accumulating in soils for billions of years longer than previously thought.
There is also scientific value. Elements embedded by solar wind could shed light on the evolution of the Sun. And as the Moon passes through Earth’s magnetic field, elements from Earth’s atmosphere can be deposited on the lunar surface, and these may hold clues about the earliest Earth.
The absence of a long-lived magnetic field on the Moon might strike some as a loss, but I believe it may unlock a scientific bonanza and a valuable stash of potential resources.
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