A study published in the journal Science Advances reports data from an experiment conducted by NASA thanks to the MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment), a Perseverance technology capable of producing oxygen.
The experiment was repeated 7 times under different conditions: day and night and in two different seasons on Mars. The Perseverance was able to ca 6 grams of oxygen per hourlike a small tree. While the results are modest, they show that the goal is still achievable.
This is the first demonstration of the effective use of resources on the surface of another planetary body, chemically transforming them into something useful for a human mission.
Jeffrey Hoffmann, MIT, MOXIE Vice President of the Investigative Force
MOXIE, one of Perseverance’s many tools, cannot run continuously and takes a long time to warm up and get to work. After filtering and pressurizing the air, it is split into: carbon monoxide and oxygen.
At the moment, the experiment was conducted under limited conditions in the autumn and winter months, but the team of researchers hopes to be able to test in the spring as well, when changes in the density and temperature of the atmosphere occur more quickly.
The goal is to produce enough oxygen to breathe for a team of astronauts and provide enough propellant to put them back into orbit and then back to Earth.
Source: Lega Nerd
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