Soil - Oxygen can be produced from a wide range of unprocessed lunar soils, including those which contain little or no ilmenite. The rate of oxygen extraction was highest during the first 30 minutes, but continued throughout each 3 hour experiments. The dominant iron-bearing phases in lunar soil are ilmenite, olivine, pyroxene, and glass. Each of these phases is a source of oxygen. Ilmenite and iron-rich glass react most rapidly and completely.
Olivine is less reactive.
Pyroxene is the least reactive iron-bearing phase in lunar soil. The optimum feedstock for a lunar oxygen production process may be volcanic glass. At least 25 distinct glass compositions have been identified in the Apollo sample collection. The iron-rich species promise particularly high oxygen yields. The production of oxygen from lunar materials is now a reality.