Moon dust as water source: Bremen researchers show new extraction process!

Moon dust as water source: Bremen researchers show new extraction process!

Scientists from the Technical University of Braunschweig and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Bremen have developed a groundbreaking method to win water from ice-containing moon dust. In an EU-funded project with the name "Luwex", experts from Germany, Poland, Austria and Italy, such as the regolith on the moon, which contains water in the form of ice, can be converted into water. These findings could be crucial for future lunar missions, since they reduce the need to transport large amounts of water from earth into space, according to the project team.

technological progress

In a special laboratory, the Comet Physics Laboratory (Cophylab) in Braunschweig, the extreme conditions of the moon were simulated. Over 15 kilograms of an artificially produced moon dust, consisting of a mixture of dust and ice, were processed at temperatures of up to minus 170 degrees Celsius. In this process, the researchers generated water vapor, which then condensed and collected in extremely cold copper pipes. According to DLR project manager Paul Zabel, more than three liters of clean water could be obtained in the tests, with almost 65 percent of the water being successfully extracted. The entire way of working is considered a significant step towards sustainable research into our solar system.

The possibilities that open up through this technology are enormous. The water obtained could not only be used as drinking water, but also for the production of oxygen and even part of rocket fuel. The next steps include the development of a prototype that is to be tried out on earth and later intended for use on the moon. Jürgen Blum, professor at the TU Braunschweig, emphasizes that the basics are created and the technical implementation of the knowledge in the coming years must be promoted by spacecring engineers. All of this was sought to support the long-term colonization of the moon and to promote the human exploration of space, such as ndr reported. In addition, the Kleine Zeitung that the potential for water extraction on the moon is far-reaching and that it takes significant research to use these technologies in the future can.