Want $250,000? Just squeeze some oxygen out of moon dirt and let NASA know how you did it.
On 19 May, NASA announced the Moon Regolith Oxygen challenge. The cash goes to the first team to extract at least 5 kilograms of breathable oxygen from simulated lunar dirt, aka volcanic dust. The extractor must weigh less than 25 kilograms and the closing date is 1 June 2008. 鈥淭he use of resources on other worlds is a key element of the Vision for Space Exploration,鈥� says Craig Steidle, NASA鈥檚 associate administrator for the exploration systems mission directorate. 鈥淭his challenge will reach out to inventors who can help us achieve the vision sooner.鈥�
The lunar soil simulant, known as JSC-1, came from a basaltic ash deposit near Flagstaff, Arizona. The trace elements and particle sizes found in JSC-1 are similar to those in the soil at the Apollo 14 landing site. 鈥淚deally we鈥檇 like to be using real moon rocks, but of course those are pretty scarce,鈥� says NASA鈥檚 Brant Sponberg.
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Extracting oxygen from the dirt, which consists mainly of oxides of silicon, iron, calcium and magnesium, would make a lunar base less reliant on oxygen deliveries from Earth. Ideally, NASA would send an oxygen generator to the moon well ahead of astronauts, so they would have a ready, fresh supply when they arrive, says Sponberg.
