NASA hopes water mining on the Moon

NASA has long planned to mine water on the moon to supply human colonies and future space exploration. Now the discovery of small amounts of water across much of the lunar surface has shifted that vision into fast-forward, with the U.S. space agency pursuing several promising technologies.
A hydrogen reduction plant and lunar rover prospectors have already passed field tests on Hawaii's volcanic soil, and more radical microwave technology has shown that it may be used to extract Underground water ice. Water mined by these methods could not only keep astronauts supplied with a drink, but may also provide oxygen and fuel for lunar missions.
One probe, NASA's LCROSS spacecraft, is closing in on the moon's south pole and is expected to crash into a crater on Oct. 9 in another bid to find water ice hidden within the permanent shadows there.
Not just half-baked
NASA scientists have quietly worked on water mining technologies for years in small laboratories. But a full-blown program did not emerge until the latest vision for living off the land and using lunar resources emerged in 2004.
One promising technology takes advantage of the chemistry of the moon dirt - or regolith - by adding hydrogen, which then reacts with iron oxide in the moon dirt to produce water. Such hydrogen reduction reactors heat the regolith to about 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 degrees Celsius) so that the proper chemical reactions can occur.
A process known as electrolysis can then split the extracted water into pure hydrogen and oxygen, either for rocket fuel or astronaut air supplies.
NASA has already tested a hydrogen reduction reactor on Hawaii's Mauna Kea Volcano. During a year-long operation, it produced 1,455 pounds (660 kg) of oxygen from a rocky soil containing 5 percent iron oxide. Now engineers have a second-generation system in the works that can produce 2,205 pounds (1,000 kg).
Moon, Mars or bust
Whatever the method, water-mining technology may prove ready sooner than NASA can return to the moon. The agency hopes to send astronauts back to the moon by the 2020s, but uncertainty over the manned Constellation program and the agency's future weighs heavily on the funding for these efforts, and how soon they might deploy.
Much also hinges on the fast-approaching LCROSS mission that aims to crash into the moon with two impactors. That could tell scientists how much more water ice lies hidden within craters near the lunar poles, and help fill in some of the unknowns.