Lunar Raw Materials

During the Apollo era we learned the detailed mineralogy and chemistry of lunar materials as well as the rock and soil compositions at various locations on the Moon. In addition to abundant oxygen-- about 45 percent of the weight of lunar rocks and soils is chemically bound oxygen--these materials also contain considerable silicon, iron, calcium, aluminum, magnesium, and titanium which can be extracted as metals, possibly as coproducts of the same process which extracts oxygen.

We also learned that lunar soils have trapped a number of different kinds of particles from the solar wind over the geologic eons and therefore contain helium, hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon from the Sun. These elements can be extracted as gases by heating the soil. These gases are found in most lunar soils, but their concentration varies from place to place.

This view of the lunar module Falcon from Apollo 15 shows the Moon to be barren. Whatever is necessary for people to survive and be productive on the lunar surface will have to be produced there or brought from Earth. Due to the absence of an atmosphere on the Moon, the only material to work with is the regolith. Thanks to the expedition style missions of the Apollo program, the mineralogy of the moon is well understood. Process development leading to products that will be required at a lunar outpost must begin.