General, Research, Technology

Moon dust can be a source of oxygen

Moon dust or regolith contains hugethe amount of oxygen mixed with dust in the form of oxides. Such an unexpected conclusion was made by specialists from the University of Glasgow in Scotland, who offer the opportunity to create a new type of installation with the goal of extracting gas useful to humanity on a large scale. If the ambitious plan works, the construction of full-fledged moon colonies and long-term settlements will be able to happen in the near future. How exactly will we finally begin to produce oxygen on the moon? Let's try to figure this out together in this article.

Large amounts of oxygen can be hidden in moon dust

Is it possible to create oxygen from regolith?

The ability to obtain oxygen from a resource,which literally lies under the feet of astronauts, would become a good basis for the prosperity of future human colonies on the moon. Chemist Beth Lomax of the University of Glasgow believes that the first step in the development of the Earth’s natural satellite should be to focus scientists on extracting oxygen from lunar regolith, which can be used not only for human breathing, but also for local production of rocket fuel. As an example, the scientist cites the installation created by Lomax and his team at the European Center for Space Research and Technology in the Netherlands.

Based on lunar soil samples,obtained thanks to past expeditions, researchers are inclined to believe that most of the surface of the moon is a mixture of loose dust, stones and dirt, 40 - 45% of the total mass of which is occupied by the desired substance - oxygen.

According to the science portal sciencealert.com, scientists have already tried to produce oxygen from moon dust using a copy of the regolith called LunaR regolith simulant. Unfortunately, then these attempts remained in vain - due to difficulties in extraction, the amount of gas obtained as a result of the experiment did not allow bringing the technology to the required level. However, the Lomax team managed to create the incredible: using the method of electrolysis of molten salt, the scientist was able to do something that no one had done before.

See also: Moon dust can be dangerous to humans

Oxygen from lunar regolith can be an excellent basis for creating lunar bases of the future

If you liked this article, we invite you to discuss it with like-minded people in our official chat on Telegram or on the channel in Yandex.Zen.

To release large amounts of oxygenFrom moon dust, scientists of the future will need to place regolith in special grids that can withstand heating up to 950 degrees Celsius. Next, calcium chloride, a powerful electrolyte, is added to the regolith, and electric current is also supplied. A similar procedure extracts oxygen and transfers salts to the anode, from where they can be easily removed. Scientists believe that a set of measures helps to extract up to 96 percent of oxygen from regolith, while the remaining part of the moon dust can be used as a mixture of metal alloys, which is undoubtedly a pleasant additional bonus. Researcher - material scientist Alexander Meriss from the European Space Agency claims that the study of the properties of the substance residual from regolith can contribute to the development of new directions for further research on alloys and their properties. So, perhaps, some of them can find their application in 3D printing of buildings, thus solving another problem of humanity when considering the prospects of lunar colonization.