Fri, 24 Jan 2025

How to make oxygen on the moon

Engineers are working on systems that can turn lunar regolith into useful elements like oxygen.

* Sierra Space's experiment on extracting oxygen from lunar regolith using a carbothermal process has been successful, producing oxygen-containing molecules.
* The company has had to improve their machine to cope with the abrasive texture of the regolith and is now planning to test it on the moon in 2028 or later.
* Researchers are working on ways to overcome the challenges of lunar gravity, which can impede the detachment of oxygen bubbles from electrodes.
* Other companies, such as NASA's Johnson Space Center, are also developing systems for extracting resources from lunar regolith, including metal and water.
* The ultimate goal is to have a sustainable presence on the moon, with robots and machines capable of extracting resources and producing fuel and oxygen for future missions.
* The technology could potentially save billions of dollars in mission costs by reducing the need for resupply missions from Earth.
* Researchers are also exploring ways to use lunar regolith to create building materials, such as strong, hollow bricks.
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