The Moon’s atmosphere doesn’t contain enough oxygen for human life, but under the planet’s rocky top layer, there’s enough of the gas to sustain eight billion human lives for 100,000 years, according to a prominent scientist.
In a piece penned this week in The Conversation, John Grant, a lecturer in soil science at Australia’s Southern Cross University explained that the Moon was heavy in minerals that bind tightly with oxygen.
Grant claims that, even if one ignores the oxygen tied up in deep, hard rock, the Moon’s regolith – the rocky top layer – which is easily accessible, could hold enough oxygen for eight million people to live for 100,000 years.
The scientist’s calculation is based on the notion that humans need 800g (28oz) of oxygen a day to survive, and the regolith is some 10m (33ft) deep. He states that the Moon’s regolith is made up of 45% oxygen, all of which is tightly bound to minerals such as silica, aluminium, and iron and magnesium oxides.
Unfortunately, though rocks are not breathable, the process of extracting the vast quantities of oxygen from them is a straightforward process. “But there is a catch: it’s very energy-hungry. To be sustainable, it would need to be supported by solar energy or other energy sources available on the Moon,” Grant notes.
Grant’s article comes after the Australian Space Agency and NASA signed a deal in October to send a rover to the Moon with the objective of collecting lunar rocks and attempting to extract breathable oxygen from them.
The scientist also noted the development of experimental reactors to improve the process of making oxygen via electrolysis by a Belgian start-up. The new technology could be sent to the Moon by 2025 as part of the European Space Agency’s in-situ resource utilisation mission.
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source: RT
Împotriva articolelor redacției noastre, persoanele nemulțumite pot formula Contestație în termen de 10 zile de la publicarea articolului, la judecătoria Orășenească nr. 1 München Bayern Deutschland, in conformitate cu Legea federală Germană. Considerăm că nu se pot formula acțiuni la instanțele din România deoarece nici o persoană care activează în trustul nostru nu poate fi extrasă de sub jurisdicția federală germană. Considerăm că redacția noastră nu răspunde în fața autorităților din România ci doar celor federale sau civile germane. deoarece legea română nu are efecte de extraneitate asupra redacției chiar dacă subiectul știrilor face obiectul unor evenimente sau persoane din România și sunt scrise în limba română. Limba română nu este izvor de extraneitate a legii.
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