When considering colonizing another astronomical body such as the Moon or Mars, the requirements for the survival of the colonists depend on developing native sources for critical gases such as hydrogen and oxygen.
Part 2 of 2 Parts (Please read Part 1 first)
The lunar regolith is composed of about forty five percent oxygen. However, that oxygen is tightly bound into the minerals mentioned above. In order to break those bonds, a great deal of energy must be applied.
Part 1 of 2 Parts
Vast Space is a space startup based in Long Beach, California. They just signed a contract with SpaceX to launch the first commercial space station as soon as 2025. They intend to crew it immediately after it attains a stable Earth orbit. Joseph McCaleb is the founder of Vast. He said, “It’s a super aggressive schedule. But we have a clear path for how we’re going to get there.”
MIT engineers have designed a levitating space rover. This new vehicle could enable the exploration of parts of the Moon that are too treacherous for today’s rolling rovers. Rovers are hugely important for space exploration. They give us a way to study the surface of the Moon, Mars and asteroids up close without sending astronauts.
