New technologies using material found in space are constantly popping up, sometimes from smaller companies and sometimes from larger ones. Back in 2020, one of the largest companies of them all announced a technology that could have significant implications for the future lunar exploration missions planned over the next ten years. The European aerospace giant Airbus developed the Regolith to OXYgen and Metals Conversion (ROXY) system.

ROXY creates not only oxygen, a resource vital for humans to breathe and also for rocket fuel, but also makes metals that can be used to manufacture tools, equipment, and even structures on the Moon. And it does it simply from the regolith that is present everywhere on the lunar surface.

Life on Earth owes its existence to photosynthesis—a process which is 2.3 billion years old. This immensely fascinating (and still not fully understood) reaction enables plants and other organisms to harvest sunlight, water and carbon dioxide while converting them into oxygen and energy in the form of sugar.

Photosynthesis is such an integral part of Earth's functioning that we pretty much take it for granted. But as we look beyond our own planet for places to explore and settle on, it is obvious how rare and valuable the process is.

As my colleagues and I have investigated in a new paper, published in Nature Communications, recent advances in making artificial photosynthesis may well be key to surviving and thriving away from Earth.

The human need for oxygen makes space travel tricky. Fuel constraints limit the amount of oxygen we can carry with us, particularly if we want to do long-haul journeys to the moon and Mars. A one-way trip to Mars usually takes on the order of two years, meaning we can't easily send supplies of resources from Earth.