Focus on Arts and Ecology

May 6, 2022 

Chinese scientists have found the soil on the moon may potentially be able to generate oxygen and fuel, a finding that signifies more tantalizing possibilities of utilizing lunar resources to further human exploration on the moon or beyond. 

The researchers with Nanjing University showed that the lunar sample brought back by China's Chang'e-5 probe contains active compounds that can convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and fuel. After analyzing the Chang'e-5 lunar soil sample, the team found the sample contains iron-rich and titanium-rich substances, which could work as a catalyst to make oxygen using sunlight and carbon dioxide. 

The team proposed a strategy using lunar soil to electrolyze water from the moon and the astronauts' life support system into oxygen and hydrogen. The process is powered by sunlight. The carbon dioxide exhaled by moon inhabitants can be collected and combined with hydrogen to yield the fuel methane, also catalyzed by lunar soil, according to the study. 

(Sources: China Report)