Lifestyle
A groundbreaking device aboard NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover will produce enough oxygen for a small dog to breathe for about 10 hours, marking the mission a success.
The Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) is a microwave-sized device that takes unbreathable Martian air and turns it into the oxygen that humans and dogs rely on.
The experimental device’s development team recently revealed that MOXIE has been working like a dream since Percy landed on Mars.
MOXIE has produced 122 grams of oxygen since 2021, or approximately 12 grams of oxygen per hour.
NASA knows we like to use animal analogies, so the space agency says this is enough for a small dog to breathe for about 10 hours.
That may not sound like a lot, but this is more than double NASA’s original goal for MOXIE.
The purity of oxygen is also over 98%.
![This NASA file photo released on June 7, 2018 shows a low-angle self-portrait of NASA's Mars Curiosity rover at the site where it descended to drill a hole in a rock target. Masu. "buckskin" It is located at the bottom of Mt Sharp.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/160404068_AFP_15X045.jpg?w=1024)
![This NASA file photo released on June 7, 2018 shows a low-angle self-portrait of NASA's Mars Curiosity rover at the site where it descended to drill a hole in a rock target. Masu. "buckskin" It is located at the bottom of Mt Sharp.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/160404068_AFP_15X045.jpg?w=1024)
“MOXIE’s impressive performance shows that it is possible to extract oxygen from the Martian atmosphere,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. “It could be useful in providing drugs.” “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. .”
MOXIE works through an electrochemical process that separates carbon dioxide molecules into oxygen and carbon monoxide molecules.
These gases will be analyzed as they flow through the system to check the purity and amount of oxygen produced, NASA said.
![In this March 4, 2021 image, NASA's Mars rover Perseverance travels on the surface of Mars for the first time, leaving its wheel footprints in the soil of Mars' Jezero Crater.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/207457152_SPACE-EXPLORATION_MARS.jpg?w=1024)
![In this March 4, 2021 image, NASA's Mars rover Perseverance travels on the surface of Mars for the first time, leaving its wheel footprints in the soil of Mars' Jezero Crater.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/207457152_SPACE-EXPLORATION_MARS.jpg?w=1024)
![The Perseverance spacecraft](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/223059078_USA-NASA_ZURBUCHEN.jpg?w=1024)
![The Perseverance spacecraft](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/223059078_USA-NASA_ZURBUCHEN.jpg?w=1024)
This achievement is interesting because if humans travel to Mars, they will be able to make oxygen and fuel there instead of carrying all their resources with them.
Using materials from the land for survival is a practice called in-situ resource utilization (ISRU).
Michael Hecht, MOXIE principal investigator at MIT, said the device was an inspiration to the ISRU community.
![Received November 21, 2018, this NASA illustration simulates NASA's interior exploration using seismic surveys, geodesy, and heat transport as the lander descends toward the surface of Mars. This shows how a reverse flow rocket is launched and decelerated.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/fdvdfvf.jpg?w=1024)
![Received November 21, 2018, this NASA illustration simulates NASA's interior exploration using seismic surveys, geodesy, and heat transport as the lander descends toward the surface of Mars. This shows how a reverse flow rocket is launched and decelerated.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/fdvdfvf.jpg?w=1024)
![In an undated illustration provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, NASA's Perseverance rover is seen on Mars.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/198322670_SPACE-EXPLORATION_MARS.jpg?w=1024)
![In an undated illustration provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, NASA's Perseverance rover is seen on Mars.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/198322670_SPACE-EXPLORATION_MARS.jpg?w=1024)
“This demonstrated that NASA is willing to invest in this type of future technology. And it’s also a flagship that has impacted the exciting industry of space resources,” Hecht said.
This concept can be used to create a full-fledged system with an oxygen generator like MOXIE and a way to store the oxygen produced.
NASA has shared audio of MOXIE’s air compressor operating on Mars.
![NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used a black-and-white navigation camera to capture panoramas at two different times on April 8, 2023.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/68970707_SPACE-MARS_.jpg?w=1024)
![NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used a black-and-white navigation camera to capture panoramas at two different times on April 8, 2023.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/68970707_SPACE-MARS_.jpg?w=1024)
Hear the sound of equipment pumping on Mars below.
On August 7, MOXIE produced its 16th and final dose of oxygen on the rover before ending its work.
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