A Method for Extracting Oxygen from Extraterrestrial Soils Just Passed a Major Test

A Method for Extracting Oxygen from Extraterrestrial Soils Just Passed a Major Test By Matthew Williams - February 27, 2026 12:08 AM UTC | Space Exploration If humans are ever going to live and work in space, it is paramount that we can meet our basic needs far from home. This includes food and water, but the most vital element is a steady supply of clean air to breathe. This is especially important for long-duration missions to the Moon, Mars, and other deep space destinations. For any astronauts or inhabitants this far from Earth, opportunities for resupply missions are few and far between. To this end, NASA and other space agencies are looking to In-Situ Resource Utilization as the solution. Simply put, this method uses local resources to ensure crew members have air, water, food, building materials, and other necessities. Aboard the International Space Station , NASA is conducting an experiment called the Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration , a project that uses concentrated solar energy to extract oxygen from lunar regolith. The CaRD team recently completed an important test with their integrated prototype, putting the technology a step closer to enabling long-duration missions on the Moon. As the team described in their project proposal , lunar regolith is approximately 45% oxygen by mass, the majority of which is bound in silicate minerals. This oxygen is deposited every time the Moon passes through Earth's magnetotail, a region that captures oxygen ions from Earth's upper atmosphere. Carbothermal reduction is widely used in industrial processes, typically to remove oxygen from minerals by heating them to high temperatures (using coke, coal, or charcoal) to produce pure metals. Generally, it produces carbon monoxide as a byproduct. *Technology that combines concentrated solar energy and lunar regolith could produce enough oxygen to support long-duration missions on the Moon. Credit: ESA* The CaRD experiment leverages this same technology to extract oxygen fr...