Scientist Reveals Moon Oxygen, Can Support Human Life?

Illustration of life on the Moon (DailyBeast)

JAKARTA - The moon, which is Earth's satellite, is said to contain oxygen in its lower layers, even though its atmosphere does not have enough oxygen. The information was written by scientist John Grant from Australia's Southern Cross University in an article published in The Conversation.

As reported by Russia Today, scientists revealed that in the lower layers of the moon there is enough air to sustain the life of eight billion humans for 100,000 years.

Grant also mentioned that the Moon contains many minerals bound to oxygen. According to him, if one ignores the oxygen bound inside, hard rock, lunar regolith, or easily accessible rocky top layer, can hold enough oxygen for humans.

The scientists' calculations are based on the idea that humans need 800g (28oz) of oxygen a day to survive, and regolith is 10m (33ft) deep. He stated that the lunar regolith is composed of 45% oxygen, all of which is tightly bound to minerals such as silica, aluminum, and iron, and magnesium oxides.

Unfortunately, even though rocks cannot breathe, extracting large amounts of oxygen from rocks is an easy process. “But there is a downside: it is very energy hungry. To be sustainable, it needs to be supported by solar energy or other energy sources available on the Moon," said Grant.

Grant's article comes after the Australian Space Agency and NASA signed a deal in October to send a rover to the Moon with the aim of collecting lunar rock and trying to extract oxygen from it.

The scientist also noted the development of an experimental reactor to improve the process of producing oxygen through electrolysis by a Belgian start-up. The new technology could be sent to the Moon by 2025 as part of the European Space Agency's in-situ resource utilization mission.

On the other hand, scientists have found a number of planets in outer space that are predicted to have water and an atmosphere like Earth, but it is not yet known whether these Earth-like planets are habitable or not.