Since the end of the Apollo missions, a return to the Moon has been a priority for space agencies worldwide. With Artemis, NASA aims not only to send new crews to the Moon, but also to establish a base there. For this, the management of local resources is crucial, in particular the production of oxygen, essential both for astronauts' breathing and for the manufacture of fuel for future missions to Mars.
Promising technology tested on Earth
In September 2024, Sierra Space, a company present on the Vintage Altaroc Odyssey 2021, achieved a key demonstration using its Carbothermal Oxygen Production Reactor. This equipment extracted oxygen from regoliths simulating lunar soil, under laboratory conditions replicating those on the Moon. Heated to 1650°C, these materials released oxygen bubbles, validating the principle of the process.
Tom Vice, CEO of Sierra Space, underlined the importance of this breakthrough: "The Apollo program enabled us to explore the Moon, now Artemis is taking us back there to stay. Our aim is to develop the infrastructure needed for a permanent human presence, and that means being able to produce oxygen directly on site."
Next step: real-life tests
While the initial results are encouraging, a major challenge remains: the impact of the Moon's weak gravity on the extraction process. As the Moon has only one-sixth of the Earth's gravity, it is difficult to predict whether the oxygen bubbles will detach properly from the reactor. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University and MIT are currently investigating solutions to guarantee the efficiency of the process under these conditions.
Sending a reactor to the Moon is now a priority for Sierra Space. However, due to the timing of lunar missions, the company is unlikely to be able to test its technology on site before 2028. In the meantime, the company's teams will continue their research, in particular into the extraction of other valuable resources contained in regoliths, such as iron, titanium or lithium, which could be used to build infrastructures on site.
With these advances, Sierra Space is actively contributing to the transformation of lunar exploration into a sustainable project. The exploitation of local resources appears to be a key element in ensuring the success of future space missions and preparing for the exploration of Mars.
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