For the first time..NASA announces the extraction of oxygen from “lunar soil”
Scientists at NASA have made a very important discovery, in a new step towards living outside planet Earth.
NASA announced that scientists have discovered how to extract oxygen from the lunar soil, by simulating conditions similar to the lunar environment.
Moon soil
Moon soil Image source: NASA Twitter account
A team from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston succeeded in extracting oxygen from simulated lunar soil inside a vacuum environment for the first time ever using a high-energy laser.
NASA indicated that using a high-energy laser that simulated heat from a solar energy center, the team melted the lunar soil, adding that after heating the soil, scientists discovered carbon monoxide.
The agency explained that the success of the latest experiment means that the oxygen harvesting technology has now reached readiness level six, which means it is ready for testing in space.
Big step
For her part, Anastasia Ford, an engineer at NASA, said: “Our team has proven that the CaRD reactor can survive on the moon’s surface and successfully extract oxygen. This is a big step for developing architecture and building sustainable human bases on other planets.”
She added: The test took place inside a special spherical chamber known as the “dirty thermal vacuum chamber,” which recreated conditions similar to those found on the moon.
Source: websites