Experiments conducted on Mars have shown that it is possible to extract breathable oxygen from the planet’s thin atmosphere.
From a small house in the abdomen of NASA’s Perseverance rover, the briefcase-sized Mars Oxygen In situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) experiment (Moxy) repeatedly breaks down molecules in the Martian air, producing a small but steady supply of oxygen.
Currently, MOXIE is planning to retire after a successful career.
“MOXIE’s impressive performance shows that it is possible to extract oxygen from the Martian atmosphere. Oxygen could help provide breathable air and rocket propellant for future astronauts. There is.” NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said:.
“Developing technologies that can harness the resources of the Moon and Mars is critical to building a long-term lunar presence, building a strong lunar economy, and being able to support early human exploration campaigns to Mars. .”
The MOXIE experiment, designed by MIT scientists, has been running since Perseverance landed on Mars in February 2021. It’s not continuous. Operators on Earth sent commands to see how her MOXIE works. As time goes by Various situations on Mars.
Since then, over 16 runs, MOXIE has produced a total of 122 grams of oxygen. According to NASA, this is enough to keep a small dog breathing for 10 hours and a human for four hours.
it works by electrolytic, which uses an electric current to cause the electrochemical decomposition of carbon dioxide into its constituent atoms. MOXIE takes in Martian air through a filter and cleans it. This purified Martian air is compressed, heated, and sent to a solid oxide electrolyser (SOXE). The electrolyzer breaks down carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide and oxygen ions.
Carbon monoxide is expelled, but oxygen atoms recombine to become O.2, or an oxygen molecule. The kind we need to survive. This gas is measured for quantity and purity before being vented again.
Each run takes several hours. After a few hours of warm-up, MOXIE collects oxygen for 1 hour per experiment and then turns off for a period of time.During this time of operation, MOXIE design It produces up to 10 grams of breathable oxygen, or about 20 minutes’ worth of oxygen for one astronaut.
At least on paper. How much was actually produced varies. In its 16th run on August 7, MOXIE extracted about 9.8 grams of breathable oxygen, which was pretty close to its goal. This shows that even though the Martian atmosphere is thin and tenuous, a supply of oxygen is possible.
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Even in the worst case scenario, a device like MOXIE could supplement other oxygen supplies and reduce the amount of cargo that would need to be ferried from Earth.
But using what they learned from MOXIE, researchers under MIT physicist and MOXIE Principal Investigator Michael Hecht are building a fully-fledged I believe that we can develop a system that , how to store liquids.
Future Mars explorers will need all the help they can get to become self-sufficient. Between the amount needed to breathe for a team of astronauts who will live on Mars for a year, and the liquid propellant needed to power the spacecraft, approximately 500 tons of oxygen will be needed.
However, you will have to wait. There are many questions that need to be tested and resolved before humans attempt a long-term stay on the Red Planet. Oxygen is just one of them.
“We have to make decisions about what things need to be tested on Mars.” Hecht says. “I think there are a lot of technologies on that list, and we’re very happy that MOXIE was the first.”
A paper on the first seven runs of MOXIE scientific progress last year.