China's 'magic' moon tech converts lunar soil into fuel and oxygen

Chinese scientists from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, have developed an innovative technology that extracts water from lunar soil and uses it to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into oxygen and fuel chemicals. This breakthrough employs a novel photothermal strategy that harnesses sunlight to generate heat, enabling a one-step process that integrates water extraction and CO2 catalysis. Tested on lunar soil samples from China’s Chang’e-5 mission and simulated lunar materials, the technology uses ilmenite, a mineral in lunar soil, to drive the reaction. This advancement could significantly reduce the need to transport water and fuel from Earth, supporting sustainable human presence on the moon and future deep space exploration. Despite its promise, the technology faces challenges due to the harsh lunar environment, including extreme temperature fluctuations, intense radiation, and low gravity. Additionally, the natural variability in lunar soil composition and the limited amount of CO2 exhaled by astronauts may restrict the system’s ability to fully meet life-support needs. The current catalytic performance