Chinese scientists tested the idea using real lunar soil from China’s Chang’e-5 mission. The process is Photothermal conversion. In this process we use sunlight to heat the moon dust and release water and gases like oxygen, hydrogen and methane which are the same elements used for breathing and fuel for rockets and could be used for lunar settlements.

This “Photothermal Conversion Experiment” was performed on Earth. This method could help future astronauts to live and work on the Moon without needing constant supplies of oxygen and rocket fuel from Earth. Chinese scientists hope to establish a lunar base by the year 2035 and this recent discovery could make that dream close to the reality.

Extracting the water for drinking is relatively easy and there are numerous technologies that describe how this can be done, including heating the regolith by focusing sunlight onto it. However, the Chinese team has been able to take this one step further.

This is the conclusion of a team of scientists who have found a one-step method of doing all this. Whether it is economically viable, however, is up for debate.

But the Chinese team thinks that it is. “The biggest surprise for us was the tangible success of this integrated approach,” said team-member Lu Wang, who is a chemist from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, in a statement. “The one-step integration of lunar water extraction and Photothermal carbon dioxide catalysis could enhance energy utilization efficiency and decrease the cost and complexity of infrastructure development.”

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They point out that studies have shown that transporting supplies from Earth to any future moon base would be expensive because the greater the mass of cargo, the harder a rocket has to work to launch into space. Studies have indicated that it would cost $83,000 to transport just one gallon of water from Earth to the moon, and yet each astronaut would be expected to drink 4 gallons of water per day.