Planning for the return of astronauts to the Moon requires immense preparation to guarantee human survival. Habitats must be constructed, communications routes need to be safeguarded and power supplies assured.

Relevant technologies are currently under development. Recognizing the need for on-site infrastructure construction as NASA plans prolonged lunar missions, the agency has developed a system that combines robots, structural building blocks and smart algorithms to build large-scale structures in extraterrestrial environments. To support power and communications needs, Honeybee Robotics is advancing its Lunar Utility Navigation with Advanced Remote Sensing and Autonomous Beaming for Energy Redistribution (LUNARSABER) system. The technology combines power storage and transfer, communications, mesh network, navigation and surveillance into a single infrastructure. Engineered to a height of 100 m or more, the LUNARSABER mast will incorporate solar panels, batteries, lighting systems, and wireless power and communications transmission equipment.

But how will water be supplied? Human habitation will not be possible without an adequate water resource base, and only low concentrations of water exist in surface rock deposits. Fortunately, researchers in China have devised a means of extracting this resource in situ by means of heating technology.

In experimenting with lunar regolith samples retrieved during previous missions, the scientists observed that the ferrous oxide minerals and hydrogen contained in these materials can be heated to yield water supplies sufficient for human consumption. Heating lunar regolith to over 1,200 K using concave mirrors yields up to 76 mg of water from 1 g of starting rock material. A supply of over 50 kg/day of water – sufficient to provide potable water for 50 people – can be derived from one ton of the regolith.

The study published in The Innovation indicates that the hydrogen content of lunar minerals – particularly the mineral ilmenite -- is a valuable resource for water production on the Moon.

A strategy is proposed for in situ water extraction based on this process. The regolith can be heated by concentrating sunlight using concave mirrors such as those tested under laboratory conditions. As the regolith melts, the hydrogen retained in the material will react with iron oxides and produce large amounts of water and iron. The water vapor can then be collected under a cover and pumped into a water tank, ready to meet the needs of humans, animals and plants.

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology, China Academy of Space Technology, Nanjing University and Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory contributed to this development.