A new technological breakthrough may bring a long-held ambition closer to reality: establishing a permanent human base on the Moon. Scientists have developed a technique to extract water, oxygen, hydrogen and carbon monoxide directly from lunar soil, which could turn the Moon into a local “supply center” for human operations in space.
Solving Space’s Costliest Logistics Problem
Transporting basic life-sustaining materials like water, oxygen, and fuel from Earth to the Moon is prohibitively expensive. A study published in Joule reveals it costs approximately $83,000 to send a single gallon of water by rocket. With daily astronaut water needs ranging from one to four gallons, the cumulative cost of maintaining a human presence in space escalates rapidly.
To reduce this burden, researchers have looked inward—at the Moon itself. Its surface soil, or regolith, contains traces of water. But until now, extracting it involved multiple energy-intensive steps that made the process impractical.
Harnessing The Moon’s Natural Potential
Lu Wang and his team at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, have created a method that utilizes both lunar soil and exhaled carbon dioxide from astronauts. Their system can extract water from the Moon’s soil while simultaneously transforming exhaled CO₂ into carbon monoxide and hydrogen—key ingredients in producing fuel and oxygen.
“We never fully imagined the ‘magic’ that the lunar soil possessed,” said Wang in a public statement. The integrated process not only meets multiple survival needs but could eliminate the logistical nightmare of shuttling vast amounts of resources from Earth.
Using Sunlight To Fuel Lunar Chemistry
The team tested their technology using real lunar soil samples from China’s Chang’E mission, along with simulated materials. By leveraging the Moon’s abundant solar energy, they heated samples in a batch reactor filled with carbon dioxide, triggering the chemical processes needed to extract and convert vital substances. According to Wang, “the biggest surprise for us was the tangible success of this integrated approach.”
This strategy allows astronauts to convert waste gases into usable materials, essentially creating a self-sustaining cycle for future missions. The innovation could play a central role in long-term lunar habitation and deep space exploration by functioning as an energy-efficient and scalable solution.
Roadblocks Remain For Real-world Application
Despite promising lab results, practical implementation on the Moon is far from guaranteed. Challenges such as radiation exposure, extreme temperature swings, and low gravity conditions must still be addressed. Technological limits in scaling and automating the process for space missions also need further development.
Still, the study’s authors remain optimistic. “This work implies that the Moon could provide sufficient water and fuel for the future moon base and deep space exploration,” they wrote in Joule. As research continues, the idea of a Moon-based “supply center” is no longer confined to the realm of science fiction. Multiple global initiatives are now converging on the same goal: unlocking the Moon’s resources to support humanity’s next giant leap.