The SonoChem System designed by Naicker Scientific has won the UK Space Agency’s Aqualunar Challenge. Photo: Max Alexander / UK Government
The SonoChem System designed by Naicker Scientific has won the UK Space Agency’s Aqualunar Challenge. Photo: Max Alexander / UK Government
The SonoChem System designed by Naicker Scientific has won the UK Space Agency’s Aqualunar Challenge. Photo: Max Alexander / UK Government
The SonoChem System designed by Naicker Scientific has won the UK Space Agency’s Aqualunar Challenge. Photo: Max Alexander / UK Government

Aqualunar Challenge: Lunar microwave purifies ice to create drinking water for astronauts


Paul Carey
  • English
  • Arabic

A technology that uses microwaves to melt lunar ice has been developed to provide clean, drinkable water for astronauts.

The technique, which also uses ultrasound to break down contaminants, has won the UK Space Agency-funded Aqualunar Challenge, an international prize for technologies seeking to make human habitation on the lunar surface possible. Countries around the world are planning lunar missions and the UAE’s next goal in space is to place an Emirati astronaut on the surface of the Moon within 10 years.

About 5 per cent of the soil around the Moon’s south pole is estimated to be water frozen as ice. If it can be successfully extracted, separated from the soil and purified, it would make a crewed base viable.

SonoChem System by Naicker Scientific, based in Gloucestershire, England, was named the winner for its innovative use of microwaves and ultrasound to generate millions of microbubbles in melted lunar ice.

The extreme temperature and pressure created within each micro bubble generates free radicals (unstable atoms which are highly chemically reactive) which effectively removes contaminants.

The Aqualunar Challenge is a £1.2 million international prize funded by the UK Space Agency’s International Bilateral Fund.

To extract water from the Moon's soil, the SonoChem System uses microwaves and ultrasound. Photo: Max Alexander / UK Government
To extract water from the Moon's soil, the SonoChem System uses microwaves and ultrasound. Photo: Max Alexander / UK Government

Nasa has set the goal of establishing a permanent crewed base on the Moon by the end of the decade. Its Artemis programme is supported by the UK Space Agency through its membership of the European Space Agency.

Panel chairman Meganne Christian of the UK Space Agency said the challenge was required as "astronauts will need a reliable supply of water for drinking and growing food, as well as oxygen for air and hydrogen for fuel".

Workers move equipment for Nasa's Artemis II programme, which aims to establish a permanent crewed base on the Moon by the end of the decade. Reuters
Workers move equipment for Nasa's Artemis II programme, which aims to establish a permanent crewed base on the Moon by the end of the decade. Reuters

Lolan Naicker, technical director of Naicker Scientific said: "Imagine digging up the soil in your back garden in the middle of winter and trying to extract frozen water to drink. Now imagine doing it in an environment that is -200°C, a nearly perfect vacuum, under low gravity, and with very little electrical power. That’s what we will have to overcome on the Moon.

"If we can make the SonoChem System work there, we can make it work anywhere, whether that’s on Mars’ glaciers, or here on Earth in regions where accessing clean water is still a challenge."

AquaLunarPure by Queen Mary University of London would use a reactor to melt lunar ice to separate the dust and rock particles. Photo: Max Alexander / UK Government
AquaLunarPure by Queen Mary University of London would use a reactor to melt lunar ice to separate the dust and rock particles. Photo: Max Alexander / UK Government

The UK's Science Minister, Lord Patrick Vallance, has said many of these ideas suggested during the challenge could not only fuel future space exploration, but also help improve lives and solve water shortages on Earth.

Naicker Scientific was awarded the £150,000 first prize.

Frank, by father-and-sons team RedSpace, and AqualunarPure, from a team at Queen Mary University – both from London – were named runners-up.

AqualunarPure's system would use a reactor to melt lunar ice to separate the dust and rock particles, then heats it to more than 373°C at 220 bars of pressure to turn it into “supercritical water” – not a solid, liquid or gas, but a fourth state that appears like a thick vapour – in which oxidation will remove all the contaminants in one step.

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Director: Hasan Hadi

Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem 

Rating: 4/5

BMW M5 specs

Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor

Power: 727hp

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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?

1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull

2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge

4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

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Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)

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  • Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
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CHELSEA'S NEXT FIVE GAMES

Mar 10: Norwich(A)

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Mar 19: Middlesbrough(A)

Apr 2: Brentford(H)

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

MO
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THE SPECS

Touareg Highline

Engine: 3.0-litre, V6

Transmission: 8-speed automatic

Power: 340hp

Torque: 450Nm

Price: Dh239,312

Updated: March 28, 2025, 10:58 AM