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Helium-3 is essential for fusion energy, quantum computing, and tracking nuclear weapons. The U.S. has just 29 kilograms, and there may be as little as 100 kilograms on Earth. But aerospace engineer Glen Martin cites NASA data suggesting roughly 1.1 million tons may be trapped on the Moon.
In this episode, Mark and Jeremy Think On Paper with Glen, CEO of the Extraterrestrial Mining Company, about the emerging science and politics of lunar mining and the race now unfolding above us.
Glen explains how solar winds have been seeding the Moon with Helium-3 for billions of years, why AI data centers and quantum computers are already driving global demand, and how private companies are moving into territory once reserved for governments.
What begins as a conversation about mining technology becomes a deeper look at scarcity, competition, and the moral questions that come with abundance.
Will space resources help us build a post-scarcity society, or just extend the same rivalries into orbit?
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The Extraterrestrial Mining Company
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Timestamps
(00:00) Trailer
(02:45) What is Helium-3, and why are we mining the Moon?
(05:29) Why there’s almost no Helium-3 on Earth, and a million tons on the Moon
(09:01) How Helium-3 could be harvested from lunar dust
(10:33) Fusion without fallout: the clean-energy promise of Helium-3
(13:01) Space-based solar power and fusion: two paths to future energy.
(17:56) How private companies plan to finance Moon mining
(21:52) The new space race: U.S., China, and the competition for lunar fuel
(25:03) Can treaties prevent conflict over Moon resources?
(27:37) AI, autonomy, and the machines that will mine the Moon
(29:31) NASA’s commercial lunar payloads and the rise of space infrastructure
(31:08) What lunar regolith tells us about Helium-3 reserves
(33:35) The trillion-dollar question: who profits from space resources?
(36:17) Curiosity, wonder, and the future of human exploration
(40:01) Technology, morality, and the choice to be good
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