There’s a device on Mars the size of a microwave oven that works wonders. NASA said this week it is completing a series of experiments with a device called MOXIE, which has already managed to generate oxygen about 16 times on board the Perseverance rover. “The instrument was much more successful than its creators expected,” the US space agency said in a statement.
MOXIE reached Mars along with the Perseverance spacecraft, which landed on the surface of Mars in 2021. Its name stands for “In-Situ Utilization of Mars Oxygen Resources Experiment.” The device was created by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and NASA believes it could change future space missions.
Since testing began, MOXIE has been able to produce a total of 122 grams of oxygen. This is equivalent to a small dog breathing in 10 hours. It produced an average of 12 grams of oxygen per hour, double the original target.
NASA also explained that The level of purity achieved was 98%. and sometimes even better. The latest test took place on August 7, when MOXIE produced 9.8 grams of oxygen on Mars. All technical requirements were met, the device worked in a variety of conditions. All this will serve as input so that developers can continue to improve this technology.
Oxygen production on Mars and future space missions
When the first astronauts land on Mars, they may have to thank MOXIE for the air they breathe and the rocket booster that will take them home, NASA says. “This is the first demonstration of technology that humans could use to survive and leave the Red Planet.”– explained the agency.
One of the key issues in expanding space exploration is related to resource generation. Oxygen, in addition to ensuring the survival of astronauts, is necessary for the production of fuel. For example, industrial quantities of oxygen would be required to power the spacecraft returning a manned mission to Earth.
MOXIE produces molecular oxygen through an electrochemical process that separates one oxygen atom from each molecule of carbon dioxide pumped from Mars’ thin atmosphere. As these gases move through the system, they are analyzed for purity and the amount of oxygen produced.
Next steps
Next on the list won’t be creating MOXIE 2.0. The MIT team explained that the idea is to build on the results of these tests to create a large-scale system that would include an oxygen generator, such as MOXIE, and that could also store that oxygen.
“Instead of bringing large amounts of oxygen to Mars, future astronauts could live off the Martian soil,” NASA notes. The agency insists that exploiting surface resources on the Moon and Mars is critical to establishing a long-term human presence on the Moon and planning for human exploration of Mars.
Perseverance’s mission to Mars also includes searching for signs of ancient microbial life. NASA, in collaboration with the European Space Agency, plans to send other spacecraft to Mars in the future to collect sealed surface samples collected all-terrain vehicle and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.
Source: Hiper Textual
