17-07-2025
China's new space tech could help Astronauts survive on the moon without resupply missions
Researchers in China have discovered a new way to make the Moon more livable. The team extracts water from lunar soil. They use it to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and fuel. This process could make Moon missions more efficient. It will also reduce costs. The technology uses sunlight and lunar soil to produce essential resources.
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
How it will work?
Tired of too many ads?
Remove Ads
Challenges
Toward a Lunar base?
Researchers in China say they have discovered a new way to make the Moon more livable. The team was able to extract water from lunar soil and use it to convert carbon dioxide (CO₂) into oxygen and chemicals that can be used as fuel. The findings were published in the Cell Press journal Wang from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, called the results 'magical' and said the one-step process could make future Moon missions more efficient and less water to the Moon is incredibly costly. According to the study, it costs around US$83,000 (about A$126,000) to ship just one gallon of water into space. Each astronaut needs about four gallons per day. That makes long-term Moon missions hard to new technology will solve this problem by using the Moon's own soil and sunlight to produce essential scientists created a system that uses sunlight to heat lunar soil and release water. This water is then used to break down CO₂, the gas astronauts exhale, into carbon monoxide and hydrogen. These gases can then be used to make fuel and process uses a technique called photothermal catalysis, which turns sunlight into heat to drive chemical the lab results are promising, real-world use on the Moon will be much harder. The Moon's surface experiences extreme temperatures, strong radiation, and low gravity, which could affect how well the system works outside the lunar soil is not the same everywhere, and the amount of CO₂ that astronauts produce may not be enough to meet all needs for fuel and researchers say more work is needed to improve the technology's performance and to make it practical for space years, space agencies have talked about building a base on the Moon to support missions deeper into space. This breakthrough could bring that goal one step closer. But before humans can live and work on the Moon, scientists will need to overcome several technical and environmental challenges.
