Chinese researchers recently revealed that Lunar soil has the ability to generate oxygen and fuel. They have said that the lunar surface includes active chemicals that can transform carbon dioxide into oxygen and fuels. The dirt may also be utilised to obtain hydrogen and methane, which can be used to power equipment and habitation on the earth’s satellite, according to the study.
The research, which was published in the journal Joule, comes at a time when many missions expect to land on the moon in the coming years. NASA’s Artemis programme is attempting to return people to the Moon. China has comparable goals as well.
Yingfang Yao and his colleagues at Nanjing University looked at a soil sample to see if it could be used as a catalyst in a system that converts carbon dioxide and water released by astronauts’ bodies into oxygen, hydrogen, and other useful by-products like methane that could be used to power a lunar base.
They began by identifying catalytically active components of the soil using methods such as electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. They discovered large quantities of iron and magnesium-based chemicals, which might be beneficial in a process similar to green plant photosynthesis.
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The soil was then used as a catalyst in a series of chemical reactions that would create hydrogen and oxygen from CO2 and water in a photosynthesis-like process. Researchers discovered that the soil’s effectiveness was inferior to that of Earth’s catalysts and it was currently not enough to generate products in sufficient numbers to support human life on the moon. As a result, experts proposed an extraterrestrial photosynthesis pathway on the moon that might help to establish a ‘zero-energy consumption’ extraterrestrial life support system.
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