Short answers, pulled from the story.
Scandium was discovered in 1879 by the Swedish chemist Lars Fredrik Nilson. Nilson isolated the element from the minerals euxenite and gadolinite obtained from Scandinavia and named it after the Latin word Scandia meaning Scandinavia.
Scientists successfully produced metallic scandium for the first time in 1937 through the electrolysis of a eutectic mixture of potassium lithium and scandium chlorides. The process required temperatures between 700 and 800 degrees Celsius to create the pure metal.
The only known concentrated sources of scandium are rare minerals such as thortveitite euxenite and gadolinite found in locations like Scandinavia Madagascar and the Kola Peninsula in Russia. In 2003 the primary production came from mines in Zhovti Vody Ukraine Bayan Obo China and the Kola Peninsula Russia.
The discovery that scandium could strengthen aluminum alloys occurred in 1971 following a US patent issued on the 9th of November 1971. These alloys were first used in Russian military aircraft including the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 and MiG-29 to provide critical advantages in strength and weight reduction.
Global trade in scandium oxide amounts to only 15 to 20 tonnes per year making it one of the rarest commercially available metals. Approximately 80 kg of scandium is used in metal-halide lamps and light bulbs globally per year while about 20 kg is used annually in the United States for these lamps.
The stable form of scandium is found exclusively as the isotope 45Sc which has a nuclear spin of 7/2. All other known isotopes of scandium range from 37Sc to 63Sc and are radioactive with varying half-lives.