Space research is one of the major fields of exploration today. Discoveries and speculations backed by technological advancements are opening up new vistas for human life. Amidst these endeavours, a lot of effort is being put to find the best way to produce oxygen on the Moon.
Scientists seem to have found a solution to this problem. The Moon’s layer of rocks, called regolith, contains enough oxygen to sustain human life. If a new study is to be believed, the Moon’s surface has enough oxygen to keep 8 billion, or 800 crore people alive for around 1,00,000 years.
However, this oxygen is not yet in a gaseous form and researchers are trying to find ways to sustainably extract it from these rocks for humans.
According to a report on meteorite information on the website of Washington University in St. Louis, the Moon’s regolith is made up of about 41-45 percent oxygen. Another report published in Space.com states that to extract usable oxygen from the Moon, scientists will have to undertake a process called electrolysis.
On Earth, electrolysis is used to extract metals from their mineral ore and oxygen is a by-product. But on the Moon, oxygen will be the main product and the metal would be a potentially useful by-product.
