In reply to Terry Blanton's message of Sat, 17 Dec 2022 22:52:39 -0500: Hi,
An alpha particle of about 5 MeV will penetrate into solid matter about 10 microns. Under the best of circumstances we may imagine a Solar flare generated He3 ion having an energy of about 1 GeV, with most having considerably less energy. So our 1 GeV ion may be able to penetrate about 2 mm into Lunar regolith (assuming that the penetration depth is a linear function of energy). Using the reaction:- D + He3 -> He4 + p + 18.35 MeV We can make a high order estimate of the potential fusion energy derivable from a square meter of Lunar regolith. Assuming 15 ppb, and with a density of 2.4 gm/mL of regolith we get about 12 kWh of fusion energy / squ. meter of regolith, unless I stuffed up the arithmetic. However mining should be pretty simple since only the top few mm of dust need be processed. (Note that, despite the name, you can't use a "vacuum cleaner" in the vacuum of the Moon. ;) ) [snip] Cloud storage:- Unsafe, Slow, Expensive ...pick any three.
