Horizon - 2006-2007 - Moon for Sale

After 40 long years, man is preparing to return to the Moon. Across the globe, astronauts are gearing up for what has been dubbed the second Moon race. But this time the astronauts won't just land on the Moon; they plan to stay there. Some of the scientists and entrepreneurs who are ready to exploit this much anticipated colonization of the Moon are featured in this programme. Data collected from the Apollo moon landings have indicated that large deposits of an extremely rare gas called Helium 3 are trapped in the lunar soil. Scientists believe that this Helium 3 could be used to create a new source of almost inexhaustible, clean, pollution free energy on Earth. It's a potential that many scientists are keen to exploit and plans are already afoot to strip mine the Moon for Helium 3 and transport it the quarter of a million miles back to Earth.