Converting moon dust into oxygen could sustain lunar life

In the 16th century, the French novelist Cyrano de Bergerac wrote Voyage dans La Lune, a fantastical early form of science fiction where the protagonist is fired to the moon via fireworks, capturing the imagination of pre-revolution French audiences.

But for frail humans, the reality of surviving harsh conditions on the moon, with its chilling-173 C temperature, extreme radiation and low pressure is another matter.

The technology already exists to shelter our fragile protein shells, and we have had the potential to conduct manned missions there for more than half a century. To live there sustainably though, requires a constant supply of oxygen.

Groundbreaking advances announced by the European Space Agency earlier in January hold exciting possibilities for solving this issue. A prototype to convert moon dust, also known as regolith - which covers the surface of the moon, into breathable oxygen has been set up in the Netherlands. Traditional methods of producing oxygen, as seen on the International Space Station, involve electrolysis and water.

Oxygen, in the form of oxides, exists as an abundant element in the lunar regolith. It is estimated that up to 40-50 percent of the regolith covering the moon's surface is made of such oxides.

Beth Lomax, of the University of Glasgow, led a team of researchers working alongside the British company Metalysis, in demonstrating that the concept is feasible. The research process involved a form of electrolysis that can, at 900 degrees, extract oxygen from molten metals in the form of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.

By playing around with this formula, this form of molten metal and salt electrolysis was able to extract oxygen directly. Lomax said in a statement: "Being able to acquire oxygen from resources found on the Moon would obviously be hugely useful for future lunar settlers, both for breathing and in the local production of rocket fuel."

Better still, waste materials, namely the sludge of alloys containing iron and aluminum, could also be used for producing ink for 3D printers, furthering the self-sufficiency of any suitably equipped lunar bases in the near future. Current generation 3D printers are able to build at a rate of 2 meters per hour. The expectation is that next generation designs will build at a rate of 3.5 meters per hour. This would mean that a whole new building could be completed in just a week. In the next 10 to 20 years, this rate is likely to improve exponentially, rendering the potential construction of a whole new lunar base light work.

Sending objects into space from the moon is far less costly and requires much less energy than doing so on Earth. This means that it makes sense for any sort of space station construction site to be situated on the moon rather than closer to home. The moon in the future, therefore could act as our gateway to the rest of the solar system, and this is a significant reason why such research is so important.

Barry He is a London-based columnist for China Daily