[Reading Science] Oxygen for Use on the Moon Made by Burning Soil

NASA Develops Technology to Extract Oxygen by Heating Lunar Regolith

Humanity's lunar exploration and development are becoming full-scale. It is expected that not only short-term stays but also long-term habitation will be established, creating advanced bases for space development and scientific research, as well as facilities for energy production, mining, and manufacturing. If a lunar base is constructed, an urgent task will be to secure a stable supply of water and oxygen for people to eat and drink. Although there is water beneath the lunar surface, the quantity is limited, and significant costs and technology may be required. Accordingly, scientists at NASA are developing technology to self-sufficiently produce oxygen on the Moon. Recently, they have attracted attention by successfully producing oxygen by heating lunar regolith.

Conceptual image of lunar base construction. Photo by NASA website

Last month, NASA succeeded in producing oxygen using simulated lunar soil at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. They placed soil with the same composition as the dust found on the lunar surface into a specially designed reactor and heated it to an extremely high temperature, which generated carbon monoxide (CO), from which oxygen was then separated.

As part of the Artemis program, NASA plans to establish a long-term habitation base on the Moon. The lunar landing project, scheduled to begin in earnest after 2025, marks the official start. NASA is particularly developing 'In-situ resource utilization' technology to carry out indefinite missions using local resources on the lunar surface, with oxygen production being a core task among these efforts.

Large thermal chamber used by NASA for oxygen production experiments using lunar regolith. Photo by NASA

This experiment was conducted by NASA's Carbon Removal Demonstration (CaRD) team in a large vacuum thermal chamber measuring 4.6 meters wide, simulating the lunar surface environment. Using a high-power laser, they heated soil and dust identical to that on the Moon and successfully produced oxygen. Notably, the chamber, specially designed to maintain internal pressure under lunar-like vacuum conditions and prevent generated gases from escaping, operated successfully. This facility received NASA's Technology Readiness Level 6 certification, meaning the equipment and technology used are suitable for actual space use and can be directly applied to the Artemis program. The oxygen produced in this way can be used for breathing within the lunar base as well as for spacecraft fuel and industrial purposes.

NASA also attracted attention by using an advanced device capable of detecting carbon monoxide called 'MSolo (Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations)' in this experiment. This device will be installed on the 'Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1' mission, scheduled to launch this year for ice mining experiments at the lunar south pole, and on the VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover), an unmanned lunar south pole exploration rover targeted for launch in November 2024.

Aaron Frazier, NASA's chief engineer, explained, "This technology can produce several times more oxygen annually than the weight of the soil used as material on the lunar surface," adding, "It will enable humanity to continuously inhabit the Moon and carry out economic activities (lunar economy)."