The soil on the Moon could support life, scientists say.
That is thanks to a breakthrough new technology that could allow humans to survive on the Moon.
It could help support a broad hope, held by a range of countries, that future missions to the lunar surface could see humans stay there before heading further into the solar system.
That might only be possible if we are able to make the necessary fuel, water and other resources on the Moon itself, since flying them to the lunar surface could be impossible. It would cost $83,000 to ship a gallon of water to the Moon, for instance – and each astronaut would need four of those each day.
Using samples brought back from a Chinese mission to the Moon, however, scientists were able to find a new method that would allow the astronauts to get the water they need from the lunar soil. Previous attempts to do so have used large amounts of energy and didn’t break down CO2, but the new system overcomes those problems.
It allows astronauts to extract water from the lunar soil with a novel system that uses light from the Sun and turns it into heat.
“We never fully imagined the ‘magic’ that the lunar soil possessed,” said Lu Wang of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. “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 utilization efficiency and decrease the cost and complexity of infrastructure development.”
There may still be problems with putting it to use, however. The Moon’s surface comes with a host of other challenges, including extreme changes in temperature, low gravity and inconsistencies in the lunar surface.
The work is described in a new paper, ‘Inherent lunar water enabled photothermal CO2 catalysis’, published in the journal Joule.
