For the first time they extract oxygen from lunar soil

Sierra Space has just taken an important step towards the future of space exploration and a test carried out at NASA's Johnson Space Center the company managed for the first time to extract oxygen from simulated lunar soil in an environment that mimics the extreme conditions of the moon. and the most impressive thing was the entire process was automated.

This means that we are closer than ever to creating a permanent human essence on the moon, this advance is essential for NASA's ambitious plans through the Artemis program, these missions aim to establish a sustainable base on the moon and the ability Producing oxygen on site is one of the great challenges to overcome to achieve that future, according to the CEO of Sierra Space. The sustainable future of space exploration begins with the development of technologies that use local resources and that is exactly what it does. the carbothermal oxygen production reactor.

The process begins by heating the regolith, which is the lunar soil, to extreme temperatures, releasing the oxygen contained in the minerals. This breakthrough did not happen overnight. Sierra Space engineers spent weeks working in a thermal vacuum chamber that simulates conditions at the moon's South Pole, a place full of water and ice considered strategic for future lunar bases.

There, the Sierra Space carbothermal reactor carried out the thermal reduction process by extracting oxygen from the lunar regolith simulator. The most interesting thing is that thanks to these successful tests, the Sierra Space system reached technological readiness level six, this means that this technology is already mature enough to be used in a future flight mission to the moon, with this technology it will be possible to generate oxygen directly on the moon. Oxygen, in addition to being vital for astronauts' breathing, can be used as rocket propellant, drastically reducing the cost of future missions and facilitating trips to even more distant destinations such as Mars for example.

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