Its not the sort of gaseous mixture that could sustain oxygen-dependent mammals such as humans.
That said, there is actually plenty of oxygen on the Moon.
It just isnt in a gaseous form.
Instead, its trapped inside regolith the layer of rock and fine dust that covers the Moons surface.
If we could extract oxygen from regolith, would it be enough to support human life on the Moon?
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Oxygen can be found in many of the minerals in the ground around us.
Minerals such as silica, aluminum, iron, and magnesium oxides dominate the Moons landscape.
All of these minerals contain oxygen, but not in a form our lungs can access.
This material developed as a result of meteorites crashing into the lunar surface over countless millennia.
Soil as we know it is pretty magical stuff that only occurs on Earth.
The result is a matrix of minerals that were not present in the original rocks.
Earths soil is imbued with remarkable physical, chemical, and biological characteristics.
Meanwhile, the materials on the Moons surface are regolith in their original, untouched form.
One substance goes in, two come out
The Moons regolith ismade up ofapproximately45% oxygen.
But that oxygen is tightly bound into the minerals mentioned above.
so that break apart those strong bonds, we need to put in energy.
You might be familiar with this if you know about electrolysis.
On Earth, this process is commonly used in manufacturing, such as to produce aluminum.
In this case, oxygen is produced as a byproduct.
Its a pretty straightforward process, but there is a catch: its very energy hungry.
Extracting oxygen from regolith would also require substantial industrial equipment.
How much oxygen could the Moon provide?
Well, quite a lot, as it turns out.
NASA says humans need to breathe about800 gramsof oxygen a day to survive.
So 630kg oxygen would keep a person alive for about two years (or just over).
This would also depend on how effectively we managed to extract and use the oxygen.
Regardless, this figure is pretty amazing!
Having said that, we do have it pretty good here on Earth.
