A102. How are we going to be supplied with enough oxygen? Would we have to bring our own? (A K2S Question)

From The Space Library

In the beginning, all oxygen will have to come from Earth. Special care must be taken on the Moon's surface to ensure that the oxygen is always contained because it's really expensive to ship up more from Earth. One of the earliest industries anticipated for the Moon is oxygen production (LUNOX). Oxygen makes up over 40 percent of the rocks on the lunar surface by weight, and energy can be used to unbind it from the minerals. This oxygen can be used by itself for breathing, or combined with hydrogen in fuel cells to create water, or burned with hydrogen as rocket fuel. As LUNOX production increases, and with careful recycling, the requirement for oxygen shipment from Earth will decrease, allowing us to ship other useful things instead.

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Answer provided by Thomas Matula, Ph.D. & Kenneth J. Murphy

Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer

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