--- title: "The Moon Has Enough Oxygen Buried Beneath Its Surface to Sustain Billions of People" description: "The Moon's top layer of rocky soil, known as \"regolith,\" likely contains enough oxygen for 8 billion people to survive for about 100,000 years." date: "2021-11-11" modified: "2021-11-12" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/moon-enough-oxygen-billions-people" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Moon" - "Space" tags: - "moon" - "NASA" - "oxygen" - "space" --- # The Moon Has Enough Oxygen Buried Beneath Its Surface to Sustain Billions of People ![The Moon's top layer of rocky soil, known as "regolith," likely contains enough oxygen for 8 billion people to survive for about 100,000 years.]() *\Image: NASA / Futurism\* It turns out there's plenty of oxygen on the Moon after all — but there's a catch. The Moon's near-vacuum atmosphere doesn't have anywhere near enough oxygen to sustain human life. But as Southern Cross University soil researcher John Grant [wrote this week in *The Conversation*](), its top layer of rocky soil, known as "regolith," likely contains enough oxygen for 8 billion people to survive for about 100,000 years. The only problem, of course, is that you can't breathe rocks. That's where a new joint program between the Australian Space Agency and NASA comes in. Inked in October, the deal will send an Aussie rover to the Moon via NASA's Artemis program to collect lunar rocks and, as [NASA put it in a press release](), "attempt to extract oxygen from lunar regolith." The results have the potential to be civilization-shifting — because if lunar settlers can synthesize breathable air in situ, a long-term Moon base would become vastly more feasible. The technology for the extraction, known as electrolysis — no, not the [laser hair removal]() — already exists and is "a pretty straightforward process," Grant said. "On Earth this process is commonly used in manufacturing, such as to produce aluminium," he wrote. "An electrical current is passed through a liquid form of aluminium oxide (commonly called alumina) via electrodes, to separate the aluminium from the oxygen." Oxygen makes up about 45 percent of lunar soil, Grant noted, but to extract it from the other elements that make up the regolith's composition, such as silicon, aluminum, and magnesium, scientists will have to use a *lot* of energy and industrial equipment to break them apart. "To be sustainable," the Southern Cross University soil scientist supposed, "it would need to be supported by solar energy or other energy sources available on the Moon." While the logistics of extracting oxygen on the lunar surface represents "a mighty challenge," Grant noted that Space Applications Services, a Belgian startup, has announced plans to construct three reactors and send them to the Moon to create oxygen via electrolysis. And it could happen soon, if all goes according to plan. The company has said that it plans to send its experimental reactors to the Moon by 2025 in tandem with the European Space Agency’s in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) program. While it's awesome to imagine a vibrant human presence on the Moon**,** don't forget that [the hoi polloi will almost certainly not be invited](). **Read more: "**[The Moon’s top layer alone has enough oxygen to sustain 8 billion people for 100,000 years]()" \[*The Conversation*\] **More on Moon mining:** *[China Analyzing Moon Rocks as Potential Fusion Power Source]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()