Interlune tests lunar helium-3 extraction with rapid solar wind simulation

Interlune, a Seattle-based company, has conducted an experiment simulating solar wind implantation on lunar regolith in a vacuum chamber. The process compressed 15,000 years of solar wind exposure into four hours. This is a step toward assessing the feasibility of mining helium-3 from the Moon.

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The experiment addresses a fundamental obstacle in lunar resource development: the scarcity of authentic Moon material for testing. With NASA's Johnson Space Center holding only about 300 kilograms of Apollo-era regolith, commercial ventures must rely on simulants that replicate geological traits but not precise chemistry. Interlune's approach bypasses this limitation by artificially implanting helium ions into available simulant material.

The company's method mirrors a natural process that has operated for billions of years. Solar wind carries helium-3 across the Solar System, and the Moon's lack of atmosphere and magnetic field allows continuous bombardment. Meteorite impacts churn the soil, distributing the isotope below the surface. Interlune's team, led by planetary scientist Elizabeth Frank, then applied pyrolysis to confirm the helium