Scientists have proved the possibility of extracting water from the lunar soil using a microwave

Scientists have enough evidence of the presence of water on the Moon. However, it exists in the form of ice, which

mixed with regolith. Researchers have learned how to extract water from lunar soil using a microwave.

What is known

Scientists from the UK and the US have proven the possibility of extracting water from the lunar soil in two experiments. To do this, they used two types of artificial regolith.

The first test used regolith, which wascreated from samples that were taken in the lunar highlands. It was displaced with water in a proportion of 3-15% and placed in a chamber that simulates lunar temperature and pressure.

Then the resulting artificial regolith wassubjected to only 250 W microwaves for 25 minutes. This is not enough even to heat food in the microwave. As a result of the experiment, the researchers extracted more than 67% of the water stored in the soil.

The second type of artificial regolith imitateddark soil of the lunar seas. It was subjected to 25 minutes of exposure to microwaves, which made it possible to extract 50% of the water. At the same time, scientists noted that heating for 35 minutes allows you to get up to 90% of water.

Interestingly, the higher the concentration of water inregolith, the lower the effectiveness of the experiment. With an increase in water content, the recovery rate decreased to 32%. According to the researchers, this is due to an increase in the distance between dust particles, which reduces heat transfer.