Astronomers talk of placing a radio telescope on the moon's far side; energy experts want to mine the moon's helium 3, an isotope that could power clean-fusion reactors back on Earth.

天文学家想在月球远端放置射电望远镜；能量学家想提取月球上的氦3这种可以驱动清洁融合反应器回到地球的同位素。

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It also bodes ill for the prospect of fusion using helium-3, a rare helium isotope that is missing a neutron.

这也预示着，利用氦- 3这种缺少一个中子的稀有的氦同位素进行核聚变的前景很黯淡。

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But helium-3 isn't the only resource the moon might have to offer.

但是氦- 3并不是月球能够提供的唯一的资源。

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The substance that has such large potential is an isotope called helium-3, a form of helium but with only one neutron instead of two.

CNN: Mining the moon for a nuclear future

Terrestrial helium, for example, consists of a small amount of helium-3 (the nucleus of which has two protons and one neutron), and mostly helium-4 (which has 2 protons and 2 neutrons).

BBC: ET gases caged on Earth

Ouyang advocates eventually mining the moon for minerals such as titanium and for potential nuclear fuels such as helium-3.

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