Molten regolith electrolysis reactor

Why it matters

Much of lunar rock is oxygen bound up with metals. Pulling out oxygen for breathing and rocket fuel, and metal for building, would let a Moon base make much of what it needs locally.

How the technology works

Regolith is heated until it melts. An electric current passed through the molten rock drives oxygen to one electrode and metals to the other, where they can be tapped off.

Lunar Resources says it has produced high-purity iron, aluminum and silicon this way, and it supplies reactors and wire-casting equipment to a NASA-funded Colorado School of Mines aluminum project.