Scientists have developed a technology to extract water from lunar soil and use it to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into oxygen and chemicals for fuel.
The team from the Chinese University of Hong Kong believes the technique could make a manned base on the Moon a more viable option while potentially making it easier to conduct future deep space exploration using the lunar surface as a launchpad.
“We never fully imagined the ‘magic’ that the lunar soil possessed,” said researcher Lu Wang. “The biggest surprise for us was the tangible success of this integrated approach. The one-step integration of lunar H2O extraction and photothermal CO2 catalysis could enhance energy utilisation efficiency and decrease the cost and complexity of infrastructure development.”
Currently, the cost of transporting a single gallon of water using a rocket into space costs around $83,000 (£62,000). This makes a liveable Moon habitat a very expensive proposition, with each astronaut using around four gallons per...