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Helium-3 (3 He [1] [2] see also helion) is a light, stable isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron. (In contrast, the most common isotope, helium-4, has two protons and two neutrons.) Helium-3 and protium (ordinary hydrogen) are the only stable nuclides with more protons than neutrons. It was discovered in 1939.
Helium-3 propulsion would use the fusion of helium-3 atoms as a power source. Helium-3, an isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron, could be fused with deuterium in a reactor. The resulting energy release could expel propellant out the back of the spacecraft. Helium-3 is proposed as a power source for spacecraft mainly because of its ...
By one estimate, the solar wind has deposited more than 1 million tons of helium-3 (3 He) on the Moon's surface. [62] Materials on the Moon's surface contain helium-3 at concentrations estimated between 1.4 and 15 parts per billion (ppb) in sunlit areas, [ 1 ] [ 63 ] [ 64 ] and may contain concentrations as much as 50 ppb in permanently ...
Only about one helium-3 atom exists for every million helium-4 atoms, Horton said. ... according to NASA. Helium inherited from the solar nebula likely became locked in Earth’s core as the ...
Two NASA astronauts aboard Boeing's Starliner will stay on the International Space Station for months because of a faulty propulsion system whose problems included helium leaks. Boeing's Starliner ...
After Starliner arrived at the space station, NASA and Boeing worked for weeks to better understand the problems — including helium leaks and propulsion issues — that plagued the first leg of ...
After the helium is exhausted in the core of a star, helium fusion will continue in a shell around the carbon–oxygen core. [20] [24] In all cases, helium is fused to carbon via the triple-alpha process, i.e., three helium nuclei are transformed into carbon via 8 Be.
But the Starliner, built as part of a NASA program to develop independent commercial crew ships to ferry astronauts to and from the space station, ran into propulsion problems and helium leaks ...