Already “crazy” – or still science? According to an Australian researcher, oxygen can be generated from regolith rock, the less deep rock layers of the Moon. Although it is technically very complicated, according to the scientist it is quite possible.

The Moon’s atmosphere doesn’t contain enough oxygen for human life, but there is enough gas beneath the planet’s rocky top layer to supply eight billion people for 100,000 years – at least one Australian scientist claims.

In an article published this week in the trade magazine Conversation John Grant, a professor of soil science at Australia’s Southern Cross University, said the Moon is rich in minerals, which form together with oxygen.

Grant claims that the Moon’s regolith – the easily accessible top layer of rock – may contain enough oxygen for eight billion people to live for 100,000 years. This also applies when one ignores the oxygen bound in deep, hard rock.

The scientist’s calculations are based on the assumption that humans need 800 grams of oxygen a day to survive, and that the regolith rock is about ten meters deep. They say the Moon’s regolith consists of 45 percent oxygen, which is strongly bound to minerals such as silica, aluminium, iron and magnesium oxide.

there is a catch

Extracting “large amounts of oxygen” from the rock is a simple process. Grantable, however:

“But there’s a catch: It’s very energy-intensive. To be sustainable, it would have to be supported by solar power or other energy sources available on the Moon.”

Grant’s article appears in October of this year after the Australian Space Agency and NASA signed an agreementTry to send a rover to the Moon to collect lunar rocks and extract breathable oxygen from them.

The scientist also pointed to the development of experimental reactors with which Belgian start-up Space Application Services Wants to improve the process of oxygen production through electrolysis, The new technology could be sent to the Moon by 2025 as part of the European Space Agency’s in situ resource utilization mission.

more on topic , Matthias Maurer can now leave for the ISS as soon as Wednesday