Splitting Rocks

Liquid oxygen could also be extremely useful for maintaining satellites around Earth. According to a paper published by Lomax and other researchers in the journal Planetary and Space Science, it's more energy efficient to transport liquid oxygen from the Moon to Earth-orbiting satellites than it is to launch oxygen from Earth's surface while fighting our planet's strong gravity.The problem with plucking oxygen from lunar rocks, however, is that it's tied up in chemical compounds, and it takes energy to tear it away. This calls for special methods of separating oxygen from the other elements in lunar regolith.To separate the oxygen from other components in faux Moon rocks, the researchers use a technique called molten salt electrolysis.By first placing the powdery Moon dust into a hot batch of molten calcium chloride salt, then running an electrical current through the mixture, the researchers can let chemistry and physics do the heavy lifting. The oxygen previously trapped in the simulated rocks migrates to an electrode (specifically, an anode), where the researchers can then capture it.With this technique, the researchers report, they have been able to pull 96 percent of the oxygen out of their imitation Moon rocks in the course of just 50 hours. Alternatively, they can extract 75 percent of the oxygen in just the first 15 hours. Plus, as an added bonus, the process leaves behind a mixture of metal alloys that researchers suggest could be useful as well.And just in case you're wondering, according to a press release published last August, researchers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center are also working on a technique for harvesting oxygen from Moon rocks. So stay tuned, because in the not-too-distant future, we might have an old-fashioned gas station bidding war break out on the Moon.