Researchers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center have successfully produced oxygen from simulated lunar soil in a vacuum, a critical step toward establishing a sustainable human presence on the Moon under the Artemis program. The recent test involved melting down the simulated regolith – the loose rock and dust covering the lunar surface – in a specialized reactor capable of reaching extremely high temperatures.
During the process, the team detected the release of carbon monoxide from the heated material. Oxygen can then be separated from this gas, according to NASA. This capability to generate oxygen directly on the Moon is considered essential for reducing reliance on Earth-based supplies for future long-term lunar outposts and, eventually, missions to Mars.
The work builds on earlier efforts at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where a team has been developing technology to melt lunar regolith and extract oxygen through a process called electrolysis. That project, known as the Gaseous Lunar Oxygen from Regolith Electrolysis (GaLORE) project, aims to heat the regolith to over 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit and pass an electric current through the molten material, triggering a chemical reaction that separates oxygen from the metals within the lunar soil. Regolith contains oxidized metals such as iron oxide, silicon oxide, and aluminum oxide.
Sierra Space is also contributing to these efforts, having recently demonstrated an automated system capable of extracting oxygen from simulated lunar regolith under lunar-like conditions at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. This marks the first time oxygen has been extracted using an autonomous system in a simulated lunar environment.
According to Kevin Grossman, a materials science expert and GaLORE project lead at Kennedy’s Swamp Works, the development of these technologies is crucial for achieving NASA’s goal of sustainable human lunar exploration following the planned landing of the first woman and next man on the Moon. “Although the Moon has no atmosphere, oxygen exists on the Moon in the form of metal oxide powder,” Grossman stated in a 2019 NASA article. “Extracting usable oxygen can be done with electrolysis, but technology gaps stand in the way of realizing its full potential for space applications.”
NASA also announced integrated prototype testing on the Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration (CaRD) to make oxygen on the Moon, though details of that testing remain limited.
