NASA Succeeds in Producing Breathable Oxygen on Mars
The oxygen is comprised of 96% carbon dioxide that has been pulled by a vagabonding science lab
One more accomplishment by the NASA team which successfully managed to pull a bit of breathable oxygen out of the Martian atmosphere, right after prosperously flying a helicopter on Mars.
The oxygen is comprised of 96% carbon dioxide that has been pulled by a vagabonding science lab.
An experimental instrument has been designed like the size of a toaster and termed the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment, also known as Moxie.
Moxie, on Tuesday, became successful in extracting some oxygen atoms off molecules of carbon dioxide to create oxygen.
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Jim Reuter, an associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate said, “This is a critical first step at converting carbon dioxide to oxygen on Mars”.
She added, “Moxie has more work to do, but the results from this technology demonstration are full of promise as we move toward our goal of one-day seeing humans on Mars”.
Interestingly, the directorate mentioned that using the same technology, they can create rocket propellant and breathable air in the future.
Initially, Moxie extracted about five grams of oxygen, which is equivalent to around 10 minutes of breathable oxygen for one person.
Right now, the device is capable of producing 10 grams of oxygen per hour and the NASA team has envisioned to produce at least nine more times of oxygen during the first two years of the rover’s journey.
Moxie’s principal investigator, Michael Hecht said, “The team will introduce “new wrinkles, such as a run where we compare operations at three or more different temperatures”.
Hecht added, “They will try running the experiment under different conditions, times of day, and seasons and we will push the envelope”.
Thereby, astronauts will soon be able to survive with breathable oxygen on Mars, which has been locally produced by NASA.
