BANGALORE: The ambitious "Chandrayaan" project of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was not just intended to land an Indian on the moon but to explore the vast mineral resources and abundant energy potential the earth's natural satellite had to offer, according to ISRO Satellite Centre Director K.N. Shankara.

Delivering the Dr. H. Narasimhaiah memorial lecture on "Innovative Space Technologies and Applications" at the Bangalore Science Forum here on Friday, Dr. Shankara said the planetary mission would explore the mineral wealth and energy sources such as Helium-3, which had the potential of solving future global energy demands.

Chandrayaan-I, he said, would see the Indian satellite orbiting 100 km above the moon and its terrain mapping stereo camera, with a high resolution of 10 metres, would explore the surface of the moon. A Deep Space tracking station was coming up near Bangalore to track the satellite, he said.

Looking at space as a solution for future needs in energy and drinking water, he said the gap between the energy needs of the world and the production was increasing. The energy source on earth would not be enough to meet the needs of growing population and the economies. Eighty per cent of the energy was being produced from fast depleting fossil fuel that had led to serious environmental problems. With the demand rising every day, the annual demand for energy in the world had risen to 12 terra watts per annum. The shortfall would mount to 15 terra watts by the end of the century and new sources of clean energy to fill the gap had to be explored seriously. As the present system of technology would not address the energy demand in the coming decades, alternative sources had to be explored.

Sun's energy

Dr. Shankara said Solar Power Satellites (SPS), which could deliver the sun's energy to earth from space could be a major alternative. The concept mooted by Peter Glazer of the U.S. in 1968 was initially thought to be economically not viable but it was being believed now that it could be made possible.

This technology would have a five km by 10 km Photovoltaic Array fitted on a satellite in space that would deliver sun power from space to earth through SPS network. As it would be impossible to hurl such a huge system from earth in one go, it would be built in phases in space itself. A one km wide antenna on the earth, which would transfer power into high-tension lines, would trap the solar energy from satellites. Production of the same amount of energy on earth would need 130 sq km of space besides a huge quantity of fossil or nuclear fuel.

Building such huge antenna was possible, though the biggest antenna India had built so far had a diameter of 14 metres. Advanced technology developed in the world during the past 30 years had really given hope that a solar array of such huge size could be made possible, he said.

The cost of putting material in space, however, would have to be reduced for the project's success. At present every kilo of material transported to outer space would cost $25,000 to 30,000. The SPS could be made a cost-effective pollution-free energy source for the coming centuries. Helium-3, derived from a mixture of helium and deuterium in reactors built on the moon, could prove an extremely potent, non-polluting, non-radioactive energy source that could solve the energy shortage forever. One million tonnes of H-3 was enough to power earth for 1000 years. Just 25 tonnes of H-3 transported through a single voyage by a space shuttle could supply power to both the U.S. and India for one full year. One kg of H-3 burnt with 0.67 kg of deuterium gave about 19 MW of power.

Though just one tonne of H-3 was expected to cost $4 billion in today's calculations, tapping this source of energy could become a reality in view of the advancements being made in space science, according to Dr. Shankara.

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