Blue Origin, the Jeff Bezos led aerospace company, has announced that it can produce solar panels and transmission wires using lunar regolith.
The process known as Blue Alchemist, uses simulants that are chemically and minerally similar to regolith found on the Moon's surface, and uses a technique called molten regolith electrolysis, to separate iron, silicon and aluminum.
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Then the extracted silicon is purified, "to more than 99.999 percent", which is needed to make efficient solar cells.
For cover glass, which will protect the panels from the harsh lunar environment, the byproducts of the electrolysis process will be used. This will enable the solar panels to last on the Moon's surface for a decade.
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The entire process has zero carbon emissions, doesn't require water, has no toxic ingredients and can be used to manufacture and deploy solar panels on the Moon's surface, without the need to import expensive material from Earth.
This could be an important step into building sustainable structures on the Moon, that can support life on the lunar environment.
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