Why China is obsessed by the Moon

The leader of China’s space agency once admitted publicly, perhaps in error, that He-3 could meet the country’s energy requirements, through nuclear fusion, for 10,000 years.

Now the space race is on to see how feasible it is to get the gas back to earth – with China leading the way.

Gathering up gas-rich moon dust in solar-powered moon vehicles promises to be a comparatively easy trick to pull off.

But how would you then heat it up to 600C in order to release the gas and then transport it back to Earth?

Heaving all that mining hardware nearly 240,000 miles into space seems way beyond the reach of China, Russia or Nasa at the moment, but by 2025 it may well be achievable.