Home Science Generating oxygen on Mars – a spectacular new step for NASA

Generating oxygen on Mars – a spectacular new step for NASA

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NASA’s announcement on April 21 states that the Perseverance explorer has made history by successfully converting carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere into oxygen.

Technician places the MOXIE device inside the Perseverance vessel in the laboratory in Pasadena, California, USA, March 2019. (Photo: AFP / VNA) After the Ingenuity mini helicopter made history by successfully making its first flight on another planet (Mars) a few days ago, the US Aviation and Space Agency’s Perseverance expedition ship ( NASA) continues to make a spectacular new mark when it first created oxygen on the “Red Planet.” NASA’s announcement on April 21 states that the Perseverance explorer has made history by successfully converting carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere into oxygen. This is the first time creating oxygen is done on another planet. “This is the first important step in converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into oxygen on Mars,” said Jim Reuter, NASA’s space technology mission executive vice president. The Mars experiment using local oxygen resources, called MOXIE, is a device the size of an automobile battery and is located inside, in front of the right side of the Perseverance. The device uses electrochemical methods to split carbon dioxide molecules, made up of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms, and produces a carbon monoxide by-product. Manufactured by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), MOXIE is made of a heat-resistant material like a nickel alloy and is designed to withstand extreme temperatures up to 800 degrees Celsius. The device is coated with a thin layer of gold. so as not to radiate heat and harm the Perseverance vessel. On the first test run, MOXIE generated 5.4 grams of oxygen – enough for an astronaut to breathe easily for 10 minutes while still performing normal activities. Engineers will conduct more tests and find ways to increase oxygen production. By design, MOXIE can generate 10 grams of oxygen per hour. “MOXIE has a lot to do, but the results from this technology demonstration are promising as we move towards our goal of one day seeing humans on Mars,” said Jim Reuter. Tests for MOXIE will be divided into three phases. The first stage is to test and characterize the equipment. Stage two will evaluate the performance of MOXIE under a variety of atmospheric conditions. In the final phase, researchers will step up the operation of the equipment, which includes testing new operating modes or adding functionality. NASA expects the development of experimental instruments not only to help generate oxygen for astronauts in the future, but also to help generate large amounts of oxygen to be used as rocket launchers for the return journey. Not transported from Earth. According to MIT engineer Michael Hecht, a one-ton version of MOXIE can generate about 25 tons of oxygen needed for a rocket to take off from Mars. Production of oxygen from the atmosphere is 96% carbon dioxide’s Mars It may be a more viable option than extracting subsurface magnetic ice and electrolysis to produce oxygen. Ms. Trudy Kortes – Technology Demonstration Director NASA “MOXIE is not only the first instrument of oxygen production in another world, but the first technology of its kind that helps future missions use elements of another world environment, also known as on-premises resource use. ” Expedition ship Perseverance landed on Mars on February 18, on a mission to search for signs of microbial life on the “Red Planet.” In the coming years, the Perseverance ship aims to collect 30 soil and rock samples to send back to Earth (estimated around 2030) for analysis.

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