A team of researchers from Nanjing University in China has concluded that fuel and oxygen can be extracted from lunar regolith. Such “photosynthesis” can be useful for the needs of astronauts during long monthly missions.

After analyzing the soil delivered by China’s Chanye-5 spacecraft, scientists found compounds of titanium and iron in the sample. These substances may well be useful as catalysts for the electrolysis of water collected in the air exhaled by astronauts. As a result of this process, oxygen and hydrogen will be produced.

It is also possible to produce methane by combining exhaust air from the lungs with hydrogen in a hydrogenation process – the resulting hydrocarbon can be used as rocket fuel. Both processes are based on the use of sunlight and do not require other energy inputs.

“We are using available environmental resources to minimize rocket payloads, and our strategy offers a scenario for a sustainable and accessible extraterrestrial environment,” said Yingfan Yao, co-author of the study.

Chinese researchers note that the catalytic efficiency of lunar soil is worse than that of catalysts produced on Earth, but the scientific department is working on modifying the process. At this stage, the idea of ​​melting the lunar soil into a nanostructured material with high entropy has been put forward. In real conditions, this will be able to protest, perhaps, only during future Chinese space missions.