NationStates Jolt Archive


Oxygen from Regolith (from the Moon!)

Demented Hamsters
05-06-2006, 17:19
For some reason, I just find this really cool (but I am a spacenut).
It looks like they really are taking Moon colonisation seriously. How cool is that?

Oxygen from Regolith
With NASA's plan to return to the Moon by 2020, research has commenced on the issues facing lunar colonisation. One concern is the supply of breathable air; accordingly discovering a way to extract oxygen from lunar materials is a high priority. Oxygen is also required for rocket fuel.

In order to uncover various different ways of achieving this goal NASA has launched a challenge called MoonROx. US$250,000 will be awarded to the first team to successfully extract a specified amount of breathable oxygen from replicated lunar soil within an eight hour period. Deadline for the challenge is June 1, 2008.

During the Apollo moon landings, samples of the Moon's rock and dust were returned to Earth for evaluation. The dust that covers the Moon's surface is called regolith, a material rich in oxides. The most common component is silicon dioxide (SiO2) which is very much like beach sand; other oxides include iron (FeO), calcium (CaO), and magnesium (MgO). In fact 43% of the regolith is oxygen.

The abundance of regolith on the Moon is an advantage for oxygen production however it poses another concern identified by the Apollo teams; the dust gets into everything. For this reason, the secondary goal of the project is to turn the dust into a useful building material for roads and buildings. The process of extracting the oxygen and making the building material must not end up consuming other resources in short supply. For example, using electrolysis for the process would require a large quantity of electricity to be generated, causing new problems.

As lunar regolith is far too expensive to use in the experiments, a simulated version is used. Minnesota Lunar Simulant or MLS-1a is made from billion year old basalt found on the north shore of Lake Superior and mixed with glass particles.

A team of researchers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre has tested a way of vaporising the regolith to extract oxygen. The scientific trial uses a lens to focus free light from the Sun into a tiny vacuum chamber containing 10grams of MLS-1a. At 2500ยบ C almost 20% of the MLS-1a was converted to oxygen and the slag became a highly metallic glassy material.

At NASA's Langley Research Centre, work has commenced to shape the slag into useful products like radiation shielding, bricks, spare parts and pavement.
From a email I got tonight from an astronomy site I subscribe to.
Deep Kimchi
05-06-2006, 17:22
It's an old idea. Ever read Heinlein's "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" ?
Hydesland
05-06-2006, 17:22
Just out of interest, what would be the benefits of colonising the moon?
HC Eredivisie
05-06-2006, 17:23
Just out of interest, what would be the benefits of colonising the moon?
think of al that cheese upthere....
Deep Kimchi
05-06-2006, 17:24
Just out of interest, what would be the benefits of colonising the moon?
Well, if things went to hell in a handbasket on Earth, and if the Moon colony was self-sufficient, some of humanity would survive.

It's really hard for people on Earth to throw things at the Moon - but quite easy for people on the Moon to throw things to hit the Earth. It's called gravity, and is a perfect defense mechanism.
The Squeaky Rat
05-06-2006, 17:27
Just out of interest, what would be the benefits of colonising the moon?

When we bomb ourselves back to the invention of the brick, we will still have a lifeboat.
Aside from that the moon is far more suited to launch spacecraft than earth is due to the lower gravity. And nuclear reactors on the moon would not make earths athmosphere radioactive if they happen to explode; meaning we could build nuclear power spacecrafts again. And powerplants for earth.
Daistallia 2104
05-06-2006, 17:35
Just out of interest, what would be the benefits of colonising the moon?

In addition to the "lifeboat" idea, it's a stepping stone towards leaving the Sol system...
Vetalia
05-06-2006, 17:42
Just out of interest, what would be the benefits of colonising the moon?

Well, there's a lot of minerals and various useful metals, along with an abundant supply of Helium-3; that last one will be very useful once fusion power becomes viable in the future.

Plus, pretty much the entire surface of the Moon could be turned in to a solar panel array using materials in the crust...an abundant supply of steady, nearly limitless power for the Earth and for any operations on the moon. When it comes to energy, the moon is a windfall.
Isidoor
05-06-2006, 17:46
Well, there's a lot of minerals and various useful metals, along with an abundant supply of Helium-3; that last one will be very useful once fusion power becomes viable in the future.

Plus, pretty much the entire surface of the Moon could be turned in to a solar panel array using materials in the crust...an abundant supply of steady, nearly limitless power for the Earth and for any operations on the moon. When it comes to energy, the moon is a windfall.
how will you get that energy to the earth?
Deep Kimchi
05-06-2006, 17:49
how will you get that energy to the earth?
Microwave beam to Earth, in some cases by orbital relay antenna.

Energy collection at the ground station by rectenna.
Pure Metal
05-06-2006, 17:58
cool! i can't have been the only person to want to live on Moon Base Alpha... though we'll have to wait till 4-foot wide flares are back in fashion till anyone actually goes up there ;)
Vetalia
05-06-2006, 17:59
how will you get that energy to the earth?

Well, you could beam it directly and recieve it via microwave reciever dishes on Earth or it could be used to prepare hydrogen in space and then be brought to Earth.

Also, you could store it in fuel cells/flow batteries and then ship it to Earth via a conventional reusable entry vehicle; it could then be unloaded and the fuel cells shipped where needed, or the landing sites could double as the distribution sites.
Demented Hamsters
06-06-2006, 04:03
Just out of interest, what would be the benefits of colonising the moon?
As a launch pad for exploring/colonising the rest of the solar system.
Won't need as much fuel to launch a spaceship from there, as you do from here.
Demented Hamsters
06-06-2006, 04:31
Here's another interesting article they sent me:
Antimatter Spaceship

Powering a manned spaceship to reach Mars and beyond using rocket fuel is impractical. The size of a manned spaceship is much larger than a robotic probe such as the Mars Rover and requires a good deal more fuel. Another major issue is the time taken to reach Mars. With a robotic mission to Mars it doesn't matter how long the travel time is (the rovers took 7 months to reach Mars) however, a manned mission introduces problems of long exposure to radiation from the Sun and a zero gravity environment, both of which impact the crew. To reduce travel time, more fuel is needed to increase the speed of the spaceship and then slow it down on arrival. Addition fuel would also be needed for the return flight to Earth.

The immediate answer to the energy problem is to use nuclear power however this is not as simple as it sounds and introduces a new range of safety problems. Firstly, travel through space needs thrust not just energy. To accelerate a spaceship the forward momentum is equal to the backwards momentum fired by the jet engines and depends on the amount of mass expelled and at what speed it is expelled. Nuclear Thermal Propulsion gives about twice the efficiency of rocket fuel.

The present plan for the first manned spaceflight to Mars will use a nuclear reactor. Unfortunately, once used, it is planned to eject the reactor into an orbit which will not encounter Earth for at least one million years. Furthermore, there is an inherent risk to the crew.

Science fiction fans will be quick to suggest antimatter engines - don't laugh! This is a very plausible and not as far away as you think. Antimatter is so potent that a few milligrams is enough to propel a spaceship to Mars and back again.

Antimatter is the opposite to the matter around us. Electrons that power our electric devices are negative charged. Anti-Electrons are positively charged and have been named positrons. Antimatter is being created today in particle accelerator laboratories around the world. At present production rates it would cost about $250million to produce enough antimatter for a return trip to Mars. Over time and with new applications for the use of antimatter energy, this cost will be reduced. When compared to the price of twenty-five thousand dollars to produce each kilogram of the rocket fuel currently used, the costs will not be much different.

An antimatter engine is currently being developed at the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC). The design uses positrons which give off very low radiation and once expelled leave no residual waste products. The design is also very simple compared to a nuclear reactor. Positrons are held in an electric and magnetic storage container. The positrons are released into a chamber where they interact with other matter and produce heat. The heat is picked up by liquid hydrogen which flows through a bell shaped nozzle and expands into space producing thrust.

If all goes well the antimatter engine may be used for NASA's first manned spaceflight to Mars in around 2060.
HotRodia
06-06-2006, 04:37
I look forward to the antimatter engines. That's a very interesting technological development.
Kyronea
06-06-2006, 05:04
Science!

I love science. This only increases my love of it. Now if only science would give us a way to slow down and/or permenantly halt the aging process so I could see all that there is to see...know all that there is to know...