YNU team's research included in ‘2025 global engineering frontiers’

The Chinese Academy of Engineering has released the 2025 Global Engineering Frontiers report, highlighting the research on In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) proposed by Professor Ma Wenhui's team at Yunnan University in collaboration with Kunming University of Science and Technology.

The project has been recognized as a key frontier in deep space exploration. The research focuses on extracting oxygen, water, metals, and construction materials from lunar soil, ice, and volatile substances, aiming to shift from Earth-dependent operations to self-sufficient extraterrestrial systems, and providing critical support for lunar research stations and deep space missions.

Professor Ma's team participated in the study of lunar soil from the Chang'e-6 mission, marking the first discovery of the high-melting-point mineral brownsulfo-calcite. Meanwhile, Kunming University of Science and Technology, in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, identified nano-scale native metallic iron in Chang'e-5 lunar soil, offering new theoretical insights for lunar resource extraction.

The field now focuses on lunar soil mineralogy, in-situ construction material production, and metallurgical recycling on the Moon. Coupled with artificial intelligence and integrated process technologies, this research is expected to advance lunar and deep space resource utilization systems in the coming years.