Contrary to popular belief, although the Moon’s atmosphere is extremely thin, there is a significant amount of oxygen present on Earth’s satellite. However, the oxygen is not in the form of gas.
A significant amount of oxygen is believed to be trapped within the rocks of the Moon.
Instead, oxygen is trapped within the layer of rocks and fine dust covering the Moon’s surface, known as regolith.
NASA believes that if they can extract oxygen from this lunar regolith, the Moon has the potential to become a substantial life-supporting resource for humans. Currently, NASA has collaborated with the Australian Space Agency to send an Australian-made rover to the Moon to collect lunar rocks, as reported by The Sun.
The lunar surface contains a significant amount of oxygen retained as oxides of silicon, aluminum, iron, and magnesium, while the lunar regolith contains 45% oxygen.
The current challenge is to break down the minerals that make up the lunar rocks to release the trapped oxygen. Scientists envision using solar energy on the Moon to address this task.
NASA believes that if we can harness that oxygen, the Moon could provide life-sustaining oxygen for humans on Earth for approximately 100,000 years.
Moon rocks are still being collected through NASA’s Artemis mission and are being further studied until an efficient method of extraction is developed.