Have you ever imagined being able to take a sip of fresh water while walking on the moon? It seemed like science fiction, but now China has taken a concrete step towards this possibility. An innovative new method developed by Chinese researchers promises to transform the lunar regoliththe dusty soil of the Moon, in drinking water. An idea that could revolutionize future space missions.
The new Chinese method
The team of theChinese Academy of Sciencesled by Wang Junqiang at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineeringrecently published a study in the journal The Innovation. They demonstrated that, starting from a ton of lunar regolithyou can get about 50 kilograms of water. Imagine how many half-liter bottles you can fill with this amount: 100! An astonishing result considering that water on the Moon is extremely rare and distributed in tiny traces.
Have you ever wondered how difficult it would be to extract water in such a hostile environment?
The research revealed that although water exists in small quantities in lunar minerals, the content is so low that it is difficult to extract. But researchers have come up with a brilliant solution: they use concave mirrors to concentrate the sun’s rays and heat the regolith to over 900 degrees Celsius. This process allows to obtain among the 51 to 76 milligrams of water for each gram of molten regolith.
This discovery could radically change the way we approach space missions. Not only can the extracted water be used for drinking, but it can also be broken down into hydrogen And oxygen through an electrochemical process. Hydrogen could be used to produce energy, while oxygen is essential for breathing. Imagine the possibilities: growing food on the moon and live autonomously without having to transport every resource from Earth.
With these developments, the space missions future could become more sustainable and self-sufficient. What do you think? Does the idea of having such a fundamental resource as water available on the Moon excite you? It is not an impossible dream, but an increasingly closer reality thanks to science and technology.
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