Description: Oxygen from Regolith (O2FR) technologyhas the ability to produce several times its own weight in oxygen per year on the lunar surface, enabling a sustained human presence with minimal consumables shipped fromEarth.There are at least 20 different methods to extract oxygen from lunar regolith. Many O2FR technologies have been demonstrated in laboratory settings and field demonstrations, but none have been demonstrated in a relevantlunarenvironment.One of the most difficult aspects of any O2FR process is demonstrating the ability to autonomously move regolith in and out of a reactor over multiple cycles. Only hydrogen reduction and carbothermal reduction have demonstrated this capability, but hydrogen reduction is dependent on the presence of iron oxides that are in low abundance at the lunar poles. Of the many O2FR methods investigated to date, carbothermal reduction has the best chance of achieving a successful demonstration in a relevant environment that can eventually be scaled up and implemented over long periods of time on the lunar surface. This project will integrate the key components of the solar-carbothermal process (solar concentrator, carbothermal reactor, gas analysis, avionics, software) and demonstrate operations using sunlight. In the solar-carbothermal reduction process, concentrated solar energy is delivered into a pressurized reactor. The thermal energy delivered to the reactor is used to melt lunar regolith simulant contained within the reactor. The molten regolith reacts with carbon to remove oxygen from silicate minerals in the form of carbon monoxide. The reaction products are quantified using a mass spectrometer to determine the performance of the process.

Benefits: The near term benefit of the design that is being developed through this project is that it can be proposed as a flight demonstration that will address strategic knowledge gaps (SKGs). Once the SKGs are addressed, this technology can be scaled up to make useful amounts of oxygen on the lunar surface. This technology has the potential to produce several times its own weight in oxygen per year. Any amount of oxygen that can be produced from the lunar surface will reduce the cost of landing oxygen propellant, which will be a signifant mass/cost of any crewed lunar mission. Further, this process has benefits over alternative Oxygen from Regolith (O2FR) processes because it involves technologies that can be applied to Mars and ECLSS , such as the production of methane from CO/CO2 and hydrogen, as well as water electrolysis. This technology also has the potential benefit of making a more effective use of hydrogen derived from lunar water. If lunar water is fed into a full-scale carbothermal reduction plant, it can be combined with carbon to produce methane, a fuel that requires much less energy to liquefy than hydrogen.