OHB Italy and the Milan Polytechnic, supported by the Italian and European Space Agencies, have demonstrated that it is possible to produce water on the surface of the Moon, through a chemical-physical process that extracts oxygen from lunar sand (regolith). An innovation with the aim of supporting future human missions to our satellite. For now, the system is only a demonstration, but in the next few years it will become fully operational.
We are talking about a thermo-chemical process to transport oxygen from coupling with a certain metal particle to coupling with hydrogen, then transforming it into water. The system is equipped with an oven, a freezer and various gases: the oven isolates the oxygen particles located in the lunar sand, then the system combines oxygen and hydrogen at high temperatures, and finally, it separates the two substances from the other gases by means of a freezer, since water from the gaseous state becomes ice and can be distinguished from the other elements. This is an extraordinary invention, as water is an essential element in sustaining a crew for extended periods.
Mariacarla Frippa
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