Availability of hydrogen for lunar base activities

Abstract

Hydrogen will be needed on a lunar base to make water for consumables, to provide fuel, and to serve as a reducing agent in the extraction of oxygen from lunar minerals. This study was undertaken in order to learn more about the abundance and distribution of solar-wind-implanted hydrogen. Hydrogen was found in all samples studied, with concentrations, varying widely depending on soil maturity, grain size, and mineral composition. Seven cores returned from the Moon were studied. Although hydrogen was implanted in the upper surface layer of the regolith, it was found throughout the cores due to micrometeorite reworking of the soil