European Space Agency plans to extract oxygen from moondust and 3D printed metal

China3D printingNet, December 15th, for those who follow various projects aimed at additive manufacturing on the moon or Mars in the distance, they may not have thought: What about oxygen? How will astronauts breathe while building the future space habitat?

In order to solve the problem of regular oxygen supply on the moon, the European Space Agency (ESA) is exploring the possibility of an oxygen plant that may rely on existing technology on Earth.Oxygen is a by-product of the metal refining process and is used in manufacturing3D printingmineral powder. Although oxygen was not used on our planet before, the company realized that oxygen could provide far-reaching uses for space.



Oxygen and metal in moon dust. Image courtesy of ESA.

Lunar dust or heavy lunar rocks are tiny layers of rock covering the moon, no different from minerals on the earth. It is composed of 45% oxygen combined with metals such as iron and titanium. The process of extracting oxygen is called molten salt electrolysis. Before applying the electric current, the minerals were placed in a dedicated room in a molten calcium chloride salt heated to 950°C. Oxygen is attracted to the anode, leaving metal powder.
“A few years ago, we realized that seemingly unimportant by-products from the terrestrial mineral extraction process may have far-reaching applications in space exploration,” said Ian Mellor, managing director of Metalysis. “We hope to continue to explore with ESA and our industrial partners how to make our earth technology available in space.”



Beth Lomax and Alexandre Meurisse conducted the test. Image courtesy of ESA.

When ESA established a prototype oxygen plant in the Materials and Electrical Components Laboratory of the European Space Research and Technology Center (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, in January 2020, it proved that the process can be applied to rearrangement stones. .
Beth Lomax of the University of Glasgow said: “In Metalysis, the oxygen produced by the process is a harmful by-product, but is released in the form of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, which means that the reactor design itself cannot withstand oxygen. Therefore, we have to The ESTEC version was redesigned to be able to measure oxygen. The laboratory team was very helpful in installation and safe operation.”



The simulant that simulates moon dust performs oxygen extraction. Image courtesy of ESA.

As the project continues, the team is exploring the possibility of collecting and storing oxygen, as well as the metal generated during use.3D printingPossibility.This includes answering questions such as whether these metals can be directly3D printingOr need improvement. The exact combination of metals in the go stone depends on where you get it on the moon.
Advenit Makaya, ESA materials engineer in charge of the project, said: “This project will help us learn more about the Metalysis process, and may even become a stepping stone for the establishment of automatic pilot oxygen production equipment on the moon.