Thank you Moxy. There is already oxygen for astronauts on Mars

When the first astronauts land on Mars, their descendants may have a microwave-sized device to thank for the air they breathe and the rocket fuel that will take them home.

This device is called Moxy (Mars Oxygen Resource Utilization Experiment), produced oxygen for the 16th and final time aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover.

After the tool revealed itself more success From what its creators at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) have predicted, its operations are about to end.

“MOXIE’s impressive performance shows that Is it possible to extract oxygen? “From the Martian atmosphere – oxygen that could help provide breathable air or rocket fuel for future astronauts,” NASA’s deputy administrator said. Pam Milroy.

“Developing technologies that allow us to utilize existing resources on the Moon and Mars is critical to building a long-term lunar presence, creating a robust lunar economy, and enabling us to support the first human exploration campaign to Mars.”

Since Perseverance landed on Mars in 2021, MOXIE has produced a total of 122 grams of oxygen – About how much a small dog breathes in 10 hours.

MOXIE, at its highest efficiency, was able to produce 12 grams of oxygen per hour — double NASA’s original goals for the instrument — with a purity of 98% or more.

On its 16th trial on August 7, the machine appeared Produced 9.8 gramss of oxygen. MOXIE successfully met all its technical requirements and worked in a variety of conditions for a full year on the surface of Mars, which allowed the creators of the instrument to learn a lot about the technology.

“We are proud to support innovative technology like MOXIE, which can transform local resources into useful products for future exploration missions,” he said. Trudy Curtistechnology demonstration manager for STMD (Space Technology Mission Directorate) at NASA Headquarters in Washington, which is funding the MOXIE demonstration.

“By proving this technology in real-world conditions, We are approaching the futureHe added: “Where astronauts will live outside Earth on the Red Planet.”

MOXIE produces molecular oxygen Through an electrochemical process Which separates one atom of oxygen from each molecule of carbon dioxide pumped out of Mars’ thin atmosphere. As these gases pass through the system, they are analyzed to check the purity and quantity of oxygen produced.

The first of its kind

While many of Perseverance’s experiments address the basic science goals of the mission, the MOXIE instrument has focused on future human exploration.

MOXIE served as the first-ever demonstration of technology that humans could use to survive on and off the Red Planet.

The system can produce oxygen Help future missions In many ways, but the most important would be as a source of rocket fuel, which would be needed in industrial quantities to launch the rockets carrying the astronauts on their journey home.

Instead of transporting large amounts of oxygen to Mars, future astronauts It can live off the groundUsing materials found on the planet’s surface to survive. This concept – called ISRU (in situ resource utilization) – has developed into a growing field of research.

“Moxy He clearly served as an inspiration “To the ISRU community,” said the tool’s lead researcher, Michael Hecht From Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “It showed that NASA is willing to invest in this type of future technology. They have been a standard-bearer who has impacted the exciting space resources industry.”

Focus on the future

The next step won’t be building MOXIE 2.0, although Hecht and his team have learned a lot about how to design a more efficient version of the tool. Instead, a large-scale system will be created that includes an oxygen generator such as MOXIE and a way to liquefy and store that oxygen.

But most of all, Hecht wants other technologies to have a role on Mars. “We have to make decisions about things that need to be validated on Mars,” Hecht said. “I think there are a lot of techniques on that list; I’m really glad MOXIE was the first.