NASA begins generating oxygen on Mars via a small box
This device works as well as a small tree, and scientists have used it 7 times so far.
The Martian atmosphere is not currently suitable for breathing and does not support the continuity of life on it, as it is very thin and less dense than the Earth's atmosphere a hundred times. On the surface of the Red Planet, however, there is now a small device, the size of a handbag, that pumps oxygen into the uninhabited atmosphere.
The device is called MOXIE, or Mars Oxygen In-situ resource utilization Experiment, which means it is equipped to use natural resources at the original site to produce oxygen, which makes it the first experiment of its kind.
These experiments aim to make the air breathable on Mars, to finally allow a human mission to be sent there. And the return trip would require tons of oxygen to propel the spacecraft from the planet's surface into space.
MOXIE was placed at the heart of the Perseverance Rover before it was sent to Mars in July 2020. It uses a method called electrolysis to separate CO2 molecules into carbon monoxide (CO) and an oxygen ion. What helps is the composition of CO2, which consists of a carbon atom and two oxygen atoms, and its abundance on the surface of Mars, as it constitutes approximately 96% of the atmosphere there.
As mentioned earlier, MOXIE has produced oxygen in 7 experiments, from its landing on the Red Planet in February of 2021 until the end of that year, and will continue to produce more in the future.
MIT is supporting these experiments, and MIT professor Jeffrey Hoffman says the following: “This is the first experiment to use resources on the surface of another planet, and turn them chemically into something usable in human missions. This is a historic event.”
Hoffman is a former NASA astronaut and deputy principal investigator at MOXIE.
Using electrolysis to generate oxygen is nothing new. For example, astronauts on the International Space Station use this method to separate H2O water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. But with water so scarce on Mars, it should not be forfeited if there is no other way.
Scientists have studied the electrochemical separation of carbon dioxide into its main components in depth for decades. It is a well-understood and well-tried process in our world. But the challenge was to build a system capable of doing this on Mars using the planet's local resources.
There are several steps to the MOXIE oxygen production process:
Martian air enters through a HEPA filter and purifies it from dust and impurities.
The air is compressed and heated to 800 degrees Celsius.
The air is passed to a device called a solid oxygen electrolyzer, which splits the carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide and negative oxygen ions.
Then, the oxygen ions fuse to become an oxygen molecule, O2, which the device measures for quality and quantity.
Finally, the oxygen is released into the Martian atmosphere.
Experimental scientists say that one operation requires several hours of warm-up, after which MOXIE works to produce oxygen for an hour, so that it is supposed to pump 10 grams - enough for one astronaut to breathe for 20 minutes - and then prepares the system for a state of stopping work.
In each of its seven experiments, MOXIE synthesized between 5.4 and 8.9g of molecular oxygen, for a total of 49.9g.
Mars' climate is volatile, not only between day and night but also between the seasons of the year, which affects temperatures and air density. Therefore, there is a need to experience MOXIE in different climates and weather conditions. This is what the scientists did in the many operating periods, leaving only the task of operating it in the periods of dawn and dusk, when the temperatures change dramatically.
About this, Michael Hecht, principal investigator at MOXIE, says: “We have a trump card in our pocket that will allow us to do this, and when we try it in the laboratory, we can say that we have reached an important achievement that proves our ability to operate the device at any time.”
The ultimate goal is to build a system that works with the same mechanism but on a much larger scale than MOXIE, and such a device would have to constantly produce oxygen.
Hecht has previously said that a small team of astronauts would need a ton of breathable oxygen to stay on Mars for an entire year. And all this without taking into account the tons of oxygen that go into the composition of the launch fuel for the return trip. For that trip, you need 50 tons of fuel - mostly oxygen - on the surface of Mars, and that requires bringing 500 tons of fuel from the planet Earth, and this hinders space exploration. To solve this problem, scientists will use an oxygen generation system on Mars similar to MOXIE.
Scientists will conduct the next experiment at a time of year when the Martian atmosphere is denser than at any other time. The goal of this experiment is to use the device to its maximum potential to produce the largest amount of oxygen. The results will show the limits of MOXIE's capabilities, in order to contribute to pushing these limits even further in the future device.
Finally, Hoffman said: “To enable a human mission to Mars, we have to bring a lot of equipment from Earth, such as computers, space suits, and housing. But oxygen? If you can make it there, do it, and you will be ahead of the race.”
Source: websites