The interest in studies in the field of space is increasing day by day. In addition to space travel for scientific and exploratory purposes, space travel is now moving towards a more commercial realm where ordinary people who print ‘a bit of money’ will also experience it. As such, the need for resources that will provide the fuel necessary for us to live in the space environment and to go into space is increasing in direct proportion to this interest.
According to a new study led by scientists in China, the soil on the Moon’s surface contains active compounds that can convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and fuels. Researchers are now investigating whether lunar resources could be used to facilitate human space exploration on the Moon or beyond.
It may be possible to produce oxygen and fuel with lunar soil
Nanjing University materials scientists Yingfang Yao and Zhigang Zou, The two most abundant resources on the Moon, the Moon soil and the Sun It aims to design a system that uses radiation. Analyzing the lunar soil brought back by China’s Chang’e 5 spacecraft, the research team found that the sample in question contains certain substances, including iron and titanium-rich substances, which can act as a catalyst to produce desired products such as oxygen using sunlight and carbon dioxide. reported that they found that it contains compounds.
Based on these observations, the team proposes some kind of “extraterrestrial photosynthesis” strategy. According to the system in question, it seems possible that the lunar soil could be used to electrolyze water extracted from the Moon and astronauts’ respiratory exhaust into oxygen and hydrogen powered by sunlight. Carbon dioxide exhaled by astronauts on the Moon is also collected during this process and can be combined with hydrogen from water electrolysis during a hydrogenation process catalyzed by the lunar soil.
In addition, hydrocarbons such as methane can be obtained, which can be used as fuel during the process. The team stated that their strategy does not use any external energy source other than sunlight to produce products such as water, oxygen and fuel necessary to support life on a base to be established on the Moon; plans to test its systems in space during China’s future crewed lunar missions.
There is also a video on how the process works
A sustainable and affordable extraterrestrial habitat
In his statement on the subject, Yao states that their systems make use of the resources in the environment to minimize the rocket load. “Our strategy presents a scenario for a sustainable and affordable extraterrestrial life environment.” In addition, Yao states that although the catalytic efficiency of lunar soil is less than that of Earth, the team tested different approaches to refine the design, such as adding the lunar soil to a nanostructured high-entropy material that is a better catalyst.
Expressing that we will witness the rapid development of the crewed space flight industry in the very near future, Yao said, “We will enter a ‘Space Age’ like the ‘Age of Sail’, where hundreds of ships sailed in the 1600s. But if we want to conduct large-scale exploration of the extraterrestrial world, we will need to consider ways to reduce the burden, namely relying on as little material from Earth as possible and using extraterrestrial sources instead,” he adds.
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