Scientists figured out how to get water and oxygen on the moon
The device is solar powered will allow astronauts to produce oxygen on lifeless earth satellite — the moon.
Aerospace engineer Thorsten Denk, who dedicated 10 years working on the device in the Center for the study of solar energy in Spain (the Platform Solar de Almeria), notes that missions to the moon and other objects in the Solar system too expensive to add to the cost of the flights transporting the necessary materials from Earth.
“For every kilogram of extra weight you will need hundreds of liters of fuel,” says Denk.
He created a reactor to allocate water from the lunar soil and the resulting moisture could be split into oxygen and hydrogen. In addition, the apparatus Denka able to support the life of a crew of 6-8 people. Bringing it to the moon one day, do not have to spend extra fuel to transport water and oxygen.
This will dramatically reduce the weight of the entire lunar mission.
During the download an error has occurred.Might look like a moon base built using 3D printing. The ESA project
The device has already passed the six month test and showed excellent results, reports The Daily Mail.
The working principle: the device makes the lunar soil, then it frays into tiny particles, which emits water.
According to the creators, the device has already learned to process 25 kg of particles less than hour 700 litres of water.
Four hours after start of operation, the reactor produces 2.5 kg of oxygen, and the whole process takes up to 10 kW of electricity, which comes via solar panels. However, while the splitting of water into oxygen and hydrogen is at the stage of mathematical calculations: for the experiments required additional funding.
The unit itself, by the way, weighs 400 kg, but its creators are sure that the weight can be reduced through modernization and improvements.