WEB DESK: European scientists are hoping they can send an oxygen plant to the moon for a sustainable long-term mission. The facility would convert moon dust into breathable oxygen for the settlers. The mission is still quite far out, but the team hopes to have a viable demonstration of the technology by the middle of this decade.
European Space Agency (ESA) researchers have begun extracting oxygen from simulated moon dust. A reclamation plant has been built at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands that can remove and harness oxygen from lunar regolith. The process leaves behind a mixture of metal alloys, which might also be recycled.
The ESA envisions the oxygen and leftover byproducts being used by lunar settlers for breathable air and rocket fuel.
While the researchers currently use simulated regolith because of the rarity of actual samples, tests with small amounts of returned moon dust show that it is made up of about 40-45 percent oxygen. It is, in fact, the most abundant element in the material, but is chemically bound to oxides.
The extraction method, called “molten salt electrolysis,” superheats the dust to break the oxide bonds. The regolith is placed in a container with molten calcium chloride salt, which serves as an electrolyte. It is then heated to 950 degrees Celsius. The dust remains solid at this temperature. Then electrical current is run through it, separating the oxygen, which flows through the salt and is collected in an anode.
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