The lunar soil can convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, which increases the possibility of using it to sustain human life in space, a study found.
The report, published in the scientific journal Joule, found that lunar soil contains active compounds that can be used, along with sunlight and carbon dioxide, to produce water, oxygen and fuel to sustain life on a lunar basis and to further space exploration.
“Our strategy provides a scenario for a sustainable and accessible alien environment,” said Infan Yao, a material scientist at Nanjing University in China and lead author of the report.
“If we want to do a large-scale study of the alien world, we will have to think of ways to reduce the payload, which means relying on as few supplies from Earth as possible and using extraterrestrial resources instead.
The Nanjing University team is holding a sample of lunar soil
(Infan Yao)
Scientists have previously proposed strategies for extraterrestrial survival, but most require energy sources from Earth. For example, although NASA’s Perseverance Mars carried an instrument that could use carbon dioxide in the planet’s atmosphere to produce oxygen, the vehicle was powered by a nuclear battery.
This time, however, Dr. Yao and his colleagues hope to take advantage of the Moon’s two most abundant resources: solar radiation and soil, minimizing what needs to be transported into space.
The team analyzed the lunar soil brought by the Chinese spacecraft Chang’E-5 and found that it contains substances rich in iron and titanium. Now they hope to design an “alien photosynthesis” system that will use lunar soil to electrolyze water.
The carbon dioxide exhaled by astronauts will also be collected and combined with hydrogen from water electrolysis. The process will yield hydrocarbons such as methane, which can be used as fuel, scientists say, helping to sustain human life on the moon in a cost-effective way.
The team hopes to test the system in space during future lunar missions in China.
“In light of the significant efforts made to explore deep space with humans, it is of great technological and scientific interest to develop a lunar life support system for long-term research,” the report said. “Using the lunar source on site offers a great opportunity to provide the material basis for sustaining life for lunar habitat and travel.”
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