A study conducted by researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong resulted in the development of a technology that can extract water from the soil on the Moon and convert it into oxygen and chemical fuel.
The technology works on extracting water from lunar soil and using it to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and chemical fuel. The technology does this by converting light from the Sun into heat.
According to the study, published in the Cell Press journal Joule, the research could “potentially open new doors for future deep space exploration” because it could mitigate the expensive costs needed to bring essential resources such as water to the Moon.
A single gallon (3.78 litres) of water costs USD 83,000 to ship up by rocket, the study continued.
“We never fully imagined the ‘magic’ that the lunar soil possessed,” said lead researcher Lu Wang.
However, the study notes that any strategies that are already in place to extract water from the surface of the Moon involve multiple “energy-intensive” steps and do not break down how much CO2 is used by fuel.
The Moon’s extreme lunar environment will still make it challenging to harvest more oxygen and water from the land, the study continued, because there are “drastic temperature fluctuations,” radiation and low gravity to deal with.
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