Chinese scientists have found a way to create water, oxygen, and fuel using moon dust, astronaut’s breath, and sunlight.
The researchers hope it could open up new space exploration possibilities, as it can cost tens of thousands of dollars to ship a single litre of water to the moon the old-fashioned way. However the “photothermal” tech has only been tested in the lab, and it will be far more complicated to operate in the lunar environment where they need to contend with extreme temperature changes, radiation, and low gravity.
Soil samples analysed from the Chang’E-5 mission provide evidence of water on the lunar surface, which the authors suggest could allow human explorers to harness the Moon’s natural resources to meet their needs while avoiding the costs and logistical challenges of transporting those resources. However, previously developed strategies for extracting water from lunar soil involved multiple energy-intensive steps and didn’t break down CO2 for fuel and other essential uses.
To advance this research, Lu Wang and colleagues at the Chinese University of Hong Kong developed a technology that would both extract water from lunar soil and directly use it to convert the CO2 exhaled by astronauts into carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen gas, which could then be used to make fuels and oxygen for the astronauts to breathe. The technology accomplishes this feat through a novel photothermal strategy, which converts light from the Sun into heat.
Despite the technology’s success in the lab, the extreme lunar environment still poses challenges that will complicate its usage on the Moon, according to the authors – additionally, lunar soil in its natural environment does not have a uniform composition, which leads to it having inconsistent properties, while CO2 from astronauts’ exhalations might not be enough to offer a basis for all the water, fuel, and oxygen they need.