Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ space enterprise, is working on more than rockets and space stations. The Kent, Washington- based firm is also researching a method that might eventually turn the moon’s dirt into materials for electricity-producing solar cells and transmission cables.
Molten regolith electrolysis
The aspect of Blue Origin’s advanced development initiatives is highlighted in a blog post on the company’s website. The fundamental technology, known as molten regolith electrolysis, or MRE, has been studied for decades, but Blue Origin claims to have perfected it during the last two years.
“We can build power systems on the moon directly from elements found everywhere on the surface, without bringing specific compounds from Earth,” the business claims. “We pioneered the technique and showed each step. Blue Alchemy, our technique may scale endlessly, removing power as a restriction anyplace on the moon.”
Blue Origin and its subsidiary, Honeybee Robotics, have won NASA money in recent years for technology that may convert raw resources from the moon or Mars into the minerals required to sustain future colonies — commodities ranging from water and oxygen to iron and silicon. ISRU, or in-situ resource utilization, is the name given to this method.
Part of the money has gone into MRE tests, but it’s unclear if NASA has any plans for Blue Alchemist. “We’re excited to collaborate with NASA and the ISRU community to improve this technology in support of Moon to Mars goals,” a Blue Origin spokeswoman said in an email.
Traditionally, one of the motivations for publicizing such activities is to pique the interest of prospective job seekers — and, for the record, Blue Origin is advertising dozens of posts in its advanced development programs.
Blue Alchemist
The Blue Alchemist method entails melting lunar regolith — rock and dirt from the moon’s surface — and placing it in a reactor at about 1,600 degrees Celsius (2,900 degrees Fahrenheit). Blue Origin’s terrestrial experiments make use of artificial moon soil.
An electrical current may be transmitted through the molten regolith to separate elements such as iron, silicon, and aluminum by breaking down oxides. This electrolytic process is comparable to how water, or H2O, may be broken down to generate hydrogen and oxygen by electrolysis.
Blue Origin’s reaction’s oxygen might be utilized for rocket propulsion or life support, while iron, silicon, and aluminum could be used to make electrical components.
“Our technique refined silicon to almost 99.999% purity,” Blue Origin claims. “This degree of purity is essential to produce effective solar cells. Unlike traditional ways of purifying silicon on Earth, which utilize vast quantities of dangerous and explosive chemicals, our procedure uses just sunlight and silicon from our reactor.”
The Blue Alchemist process may also be used to make the cover glass for the solar cells, as well as aluminum wire for transmission lines.
“Our technique has amazing potential to directly assist the Environment since it creates solar cells with zero carbon emissions, no water, and no harmful components or other chemicals,” Blue Origin adds.
While Blue Origin’s blog post does not define how the regolith would be melted down, MRE researchers, including several currently employed by the business, have explored the use of solar concentrators or electric arc furnaces.
Inversion of Industry
Bezos has long been interested in producing industrial components in off-Earth plants and maybe transporting completed things back to Earth. He informed in 2018 that he was looking forward to a “Grand Inversion” in industrial output powered by space solar power.
“The Earth is not an ideal home for heavy manufacturing,” Bezos argued at the time. “It’s handy for us right now, but in the not-too-distant future — I’m talking decades, maybe 100 years — a lot of the activities we do on Earth will become simpler to accomplish in space, because we’ll have so much energy.”
