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China's space programme
ChinaScience

China is working on a way to extract oxygen from the moon’s surface

  • Experiments were carried out using a small reactor during one of China’s lunar missions
  • Researcher also unveils design of a solar-powered device to release oxygen from lunar soil

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China and Russia plan to build a research station on the moon. Photo: AFP
Liu Zhen

Chinese researchers are working on a way to extract oxygen from lunar soil that they hope will be used to sustain humans on the moon in the future.

A team from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation carried out experiments to do this using a small reactor during a previous lunar mission, which researcher Guo Linli said had “made some progress”. She did not say if it was the Chang’e 5 mission in December.

Guo told a space conference in Shenzhen on Monday that there was a need to find oxygen on the moon “as soon as possible” to support China’s plan to build a research station there.

China and Russia announced in March that they would jointly establish a lunar base, with at least five structures slated for completion by 2035.

Guo on Monday said oxygen could be extracted from lunar soil – which is rich in titanium-iron oxide and ferrous oxide – by heating it to high temperatures of up to 2,500 degrees Celsius (4,500 Fahrenheit). That causes the ions to break down and gaseous oxygen to be released.

She said it was a highly efficient method that could produce up to 30kg of oxygen from 100kg of soil, though the high temperatures were a safety concern. As well as oxygen, the process could also produce other useful materials including high-purity silicon – used for semiconductors – and metals such as iron and titanium.

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