None of the technology needed to turn water into fuel comes from science fiction; it all exists in one form or another already, but it\u2019s only ever been properly used on Earth. The low gravity, extreme nature of the lunar south pole is quite a different setting to our own planet. \u201cWe have no clue if it\u2019ll work under these conditions,\u201d says Paul Zabel<\/a>, a researcher at the DLR Institute of Space Systems in Bremen, Germany. And there\u2019s only one way to find out.<\/p>\n (Everyone wants a piece of the moon. What could go wrong?<\/a>)<\/p>\n Water divining on the moon<\/p>\n The first step will be figuring out where the moon\u2019s water is hiding. Astronauts have yet to recon the lunar south pole themselves\u2014and although evidence from orbiting probes from both NASA and India\u2019s space agency<\/a> has determined that it does contain water, there might not be an abundance of it.<\/p>\n When hit by sunlight, the lunar surface can hit 250\u00b0F, while in darkness, it can plunge to -410\u00b0F. Even in particularly cold parts of the Moon, any ice gets vaporized and escapes into space, as there is no atmosphere to keep it on the surface.<\/p>\n Locating the moon’s water is the first step. The south pole (shown) is of particular interest because much of it remains in shadow and evidence from orbiters suggest that it contains ice. NASA\/JPL\/USGS<\/p>\n Some of the most promising sites are known as permanently shadowed regions, parts of the lunar surface\u2014often steep, deep craters\u2014that are never exposed to sunlight and are some of the chilliest places in the universe. These areas \u201care the best chance of finding large quantities of water that can actually be used for resources,\u201d says Julie Stopar<\/a>, a senior staff scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute.<\/p>\n But within those benighted chasms, don\u2019t expect to find glaciers. \u201cThe water isn\u2019t really there as an ice rink. It\u2019s mixed into the soil,\u201d says Stopar. \u201cThere\u2019s some evidence of surface frost, but that\u2019s not going to be a huge volume.\u201d<\/p>\n Even if those craters of perpetual darkness are brimming with water, they would be highly precarious places for astronauts to explore, even with high-tech lunar rovers<\/a> transporting their scientific and mining equipment along for the ride. \u201cIt\u2019s questionable if we can go in there with a rover at all,\u201d says Zabel.<\/p>\n (What will astronauts use to drive across the Moon?<\/a>)<\/p>\n Cooking up moon rocks<\/p>\n If, however, water in the lunar soil is accessible and plentiful enough, then it can be extracted. And there are multiple ways that engineers have proposed to accomplish this\u2014most of which involve heating the rock to expunge the water trapped in it.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there is enough ice near the surface, then heat can be applied to the surface directly and the vapor captured under a dome called the capture tent,\u201d says Sowers. The vapor is then collected in a chilly container called a cold trap , where it turns into usable ice.<\/p>\n Despite being one of the coldest places in the cosmos, the moon\u2019s surface may one day have multiple heat sources. Reflected sunlight is one option. Alternatively, both the U.S. and China also plan to put nuclear reactors on the moon<\/a> so that they aren\u2019t reliant on using solar power\u2014which can be somewhat fickle on the lunar south pole\u2014to sustain their bases. The fission reactions that would split atoms to power those plants also produce excess heat that could be harnessed for water extraction.<\/p>\n In recent years, space agencies and industry partners have come up with different ways to use heat to \u00a0retrieve lunar ice. One proposal<\/a> would deploy a rocket engine, trapped under a pressurized dome, to carve out deeper craters and extract more water than other methods would allow. Although focusing more on Mars, NASA also has their own \u201cdust-to-thrust\u201d concept<\/a> where autonomous robots would dig up extraterrestrial soil, transport to a processing facility, and heat it up with ovens to remove the water.<\/p>\n One of the most promising water extraction technologies comes courtesy of a European Space Agency project named LUWEX<\/a> (short for Lunar Water Extraction)\u2014and a working prototype<\/a> already exists. Either autonomous mining robots or astronauts would dump icy soil into the contraption\u2019s mouth. Zabel, the LUWEX project manager, explains that heating up frozen lunar rocks is quite difficult, because of the lack of an atmosphere on the moon and the already frighteningly low surface temperatures. That\u2019s why LUWEX\u2019s crucible stirs and rotates the lunar soil, which broils it more efficiently and removes the ice.<\/p>\n From there, a cold trap captures the liberated water and transfers it into a liquefier, ready to be used. Well, almost ready: At this stage, the water is still polluted by extremely fine, glassy-like pieces of lunar dust. \u201cIt has a kind of milky appearance\u2014like grey milk,\u201d says Zabel. Fortunately, engineers working on the project have also designed a purifier than seems to work wonders. \u201cWe achieved drinking water quality.\u201d<\/p>\n NASA is developing its ISRU Pilot Excavator (shown here in a bin of simulated lunar regolith or soil) to mine for water and other resources on the moon. The autonomous robot can serve as both a bulldozer and a dump truck. Frank Michaux, NASA<\/p>\n Another robot designed by NASA called RASSOR (short for Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot) was the precursor to the ISRU model. Frank Michaux, NASA<\/p>\n Zapping water into flammable gases<\/p>\n Finally, the water then needs to be split into hydrogen and oxygen through a process known as electrolysis<\/a>, where electrical currents essentially break the molecular bonds between these two elements.<\/p>\n There are multiple versions of this process that work on Earth. Space has seen fewer demonstrations of this technology, but several labs have tested it out in super-cold vacuums\u2014a simulation of the lunar surface. And NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover\u2019s MOXIE experiment<\/a> showed that you can use electrolysis to split breathable oxygen away from toxic carbon dioxide on Mars.<\/p>\n But even drinkable water isn\u2019t good enough to be electrically split into hydrogen and oxygen; there are still too many chemical impurities in it to produce a clean fuel. For LUWEX, \u201cwe would need to add another polishing step,\u201d says Zabel. He notes that extremely effective water purification technologies are commonplace on Earth. \u201cIt just needs to be transformed into technology for space.\u201d<\/p>\n Then, when you have your crystal-clear water, you can extract your hydrogen and oxygen gas from it by zapping it. \u201cFinally, the gases are liquified and stored as liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen propellants,\u201d says Sowers.<\/p>\n Zabel hopes that in a few years, LUWEX will find its way to the lunar south pole. \u201cIt would be nice to produce one litre of water on the Moon as a technology demonstration,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/4c9b93484f05dee815b0cbfb6273c144.jpeg\"\/)
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