Spring Break
Plants a way to transport Earth's resources to space
Scott Conover
Issue date: 2/23/09 Section: Forum
Achieving the basics of producing breathable air, drinkable water and consumable food are imperative to space exploration. Although water and food are also very important, the fact is that space exploration is impossible without a sustained supply of breathable air. It is vitally important that the method chosen to produce or recycle air is not only feasible, but also sustainable in the long run. Because of this, many potential methods are currently being explored by NASA.
The first method involves the use of fuel cells. A NASA educational document explains this process:
"On the space shuttle, fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity. A fuel cell uses a chemical reaction to provide an external voltage, as does a battery, but differs from a battery in that the fuel is continually supplied in the form of hydrogen and oxygen gas. A by-product of this reaction (2H2 + O2 › 2H2O + electricity) is water, which can be used in a future oxygen generator system to produce oxygen for breathing. Fuel cells can produce electrical energy more safely and efficiently than just burning the hydrogen, to produce heat to drive a generator."
This process may yield results; a proposal listed on the NASA website detailed the creation of such a system: "NASA plans to produce cryogenic oxygen and hydrogen to power regenerative fuel cells for lunar surface exploration. The oxygen and hydrogen will be produced by electrolysis of water from In Situ Resource Utilization reactors. The electrolysis products will be warm high-pressure gases, requiring significant cryocooler power to achieve the desired storage conditions."
The second method, which is listed in the same document as above, involves the recombination of hydrogen with used carbon dioxide in order to reclaim water. This is a very specific process, which the NASA document clarifies in minor detail:
"This process is called the Sabatier (sah-bah-tee-ay) Reaction. Methane, a natural gas, produced by the Sabatier Reaction is vented overboard into space. The Sabatier Reaction drives what is known as the CO2 reduction assembly because carbon dioxide is reduced in the chemical process of reduction-oxidation. The Sabatier reaction will be a crucial requirement for future long-duration space flight."
The first method involves the use of fuel cells. A NASA educational document explains this process:
"On the space shuttle, fuel cells combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity. A fuel cell uses a chemical reaction to provide an external voltage, as does a battery, but differs from a battery in that the fuel is continually supplied in the form of hydrogen and oxygen gas. A by-product of this reaction (2H2 + O2 › 2H2O + electricity) is water, which can be used in a future oxygen generator system to produce oxygen for breathing. Fuel cells can produce electrical energy more safely and efficiently than just burning the hydrogen, to produce heat to drive a generator."
This process may yield results; a proposal listed on the NASA website detailed the creation of such a system: "NASA plans to produce cryogenic oxygen and hydrogen to power regenerative fuel cells for lunar surface exploration. The oxygen and hydrogen will be produced by electrolysis of water from In Situ Resource Utilization reactors. The electrolysis products will be warm high-pressure gases, requiring significant cryocooler power to achieve the desired storage conditions."
The second method, which is listed in the same document as above, involves the recombination of hydrogen with used carbon dioxide in order to reclaim water. This is a very specific process, which the NASA document clarifies in minor detail:
"This process is called the Sabatier (sah-bah-tee-ay) Reaction. Methane, a natural gas, produced by the Sabatier Reaction is vented overboard into space. The Sabatier Reaction drives what is known as the CO2 reduction assembly because carbon dioxide is reduced in the chemical process of reduction-oxidation. The Sabatier reaction will be a crucial requirement for future long-duration space flight."
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