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British engineers are working on a technology that extracts oxygen from moon dust, releasing metal as a byproduct that could be used to build moon-based equipment via 3D printing. On November 27, the ESA team, led by University of Glasgow PhD student and ESA researcher Beth Lomax and ESA researcher Alexandre Meurisse, announced on November 27 that it plans to convert the lunar regolith, a stratum of dusty rock on the moon in breathable O2. The powder contains nearly 45 percent oxygen and iron and titanium, which will be used as the “metal”.
The industrial method was developed by a British company, Metalysis, using a process known as molten salt heat electrolysis. Scientists will heat the simulated moon dust and calcium chloride salt to 950 degrees Celsius and then split 02 with an electric current, leaving the metal alloys. The process should generate about 95% oxygen in 50 hours, with at least 75% extraction in the first 15 hours alone. The mineral extraction process is already used by British engineers on Earth for the production of metals, according to the ESA statement. Meanwhile, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida is also working on advanced technologies to extract space resources by fusing lunar regolith as part of its Artemis program.
[ESA research fellow Alexandre Meurisse and Beth Lomax of the University of Glasgow producing oxygen and metal out of simulated moondust inside ESA’s Materials and Electrical Components Laboratory. Credit: ESA]
[ROXY’s illustration of a small, simple, compact, and cost-efficient regolith to oxygen and metals conversion facility. Credit: Airbus]
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“After landing the first woman and next man on the moon by 2024, NASA needs technologies that use lunar materials to achieve our secondary goal – sustainable human lunar exploration – to prepare us for long-lasting human missions. on Mars, ”said Kevin Grossman, a materials science expert at NASA.
Extraterrestrial oxygen extraction plant
ESA has stated that an extra-terrestrial oxygen extraction facility will be established on the moon to avoid the costs of transporting materials from Earth. The extracted oxygen will be used as rocket fuel and breathing air for settlers in the future. “The project is part of ESA’s preparations to establish a permanent lunar presence,” the European Space Agency said. The electrochemical process to extract the oxygen will be conducted by scientists in a chamber the size of a “washing machine”, ESA informed, adding that Metalysis engineers are currently “perfecting” the techniques.
[Fine-tuning process that will be used to extract oxygen on the moon. Credit: ESA]
Separately, ESA and UK-based Metalysis have invited engineers and scientists to develop an in-process monitoring system that will track oxygen production on future lunar mining facilities. Metalysis CEO Ian Mellor said, “The unimportant byproduct of our Earth-based mineral extraction process could have far-reaching applications in space exploration.” He added that researchers are continuing to explore lunar surfaces with ESA and industrial partners to make Earth’s technologies “ready for space”. ESA’s materials engineer Advenit Makaya said the project is a “springboard for the creation of an automated pilot oxygen plant on the Moon.” He also informed that the metal alloys produced will be used for construction materials “.
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