The moon could be the next living hub in space, but there’s one problem we need to tackle before we go there: air on the lunar surface.
The European Space Agency (ESA) recently set up a prototype oxygen plant at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands, which started to produce oxygen out of simulated moondust.
Helping future #Moon settlers, a prototype plant has been set up at ESA’s technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, to study oxygen production from lunar surface material 👉 https://t.co/wpoeRjhSIG #ForwardToTheMoon @ESA_Tech @ESA_nl pic.twitter.com/U6cmXyjsn3
— ESA (@esa) January 18, 2020
“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,” said Beth Lomax of the University of Glasgow.
ESA research fellow Alexandre Meurisse added “And now we have the facility in operation we can look into fine-tuning it, for instance by reducing the operating temperature, eventually designing a version of this system that could one day fly to the moon to be operated there.”
Lunar surface samples show that lunar regolith consists of 40 percent to 45 percent oxygen by weight. However, this oxygen is unavailable for immediate use, because it is bound up chemically as oxides in the form of glass or minerals.
A microscopic image of regolith simulant. (Photo Credit: ESA)
ESA’s answer to this dilemma? A method called molten salt electrolysis. In this process, regolith is placed in a metal basket with molten calcium chloride salt and heated to a temperature of 1,742 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature, the regolith is in solid form.
When a current is passed through, it causes oxygen to be extracted from the regolith and move across the salt to be gathered at an anode, according to scientists working at the plant. This process also converts regolith into metal alloys that can be used for other initiatives.
An artist’s impression of a future moon base. (Photo Credit: ESA)
The oxygen plant is operating in silent mode for now and any oxygen made is vented into an exhaust pipe. ESA would like to build a “pilot plant” that could work on the moon, and an initial demonstration could take place in the mid-2020s.
“ESA and NASA are heading back to the moon with crewed missions, this time with a view towards staying,” Tommaso Ghidini, Head of ESA’s Structures, Mechanisms and Materials Division, said. “We are working with our colleagues in the Human and Robotics Exploration Directorate, European industry and academia to provide top class scientific approaches and key enabling technologies like this one, towards a sustained human presence on the moon and maybe one day Mars.”
More on Geek.com:
- Neighboring Star Proxima Centauri May Host Second Planet
- Future Mars Habitats Could Be Made From Moldy Material
- 7 Billion-Year-Old Stardust Is Oldest Material on Earth
from Geek.com https://ift.tt/30HG0Hg
via IFTTT
0 comments:
Post a Comment