NASA stops producing oxygen on Mars

NASA: Oxygen production on Mars was a success

“Moxie’s impressive performance shows that it is possible to extract oxygen from the Martian atmosphere, oxygen that could help provide future astronauts with breathable air or rocket fuel,” NASA Vice Administrator Pam Milroy said in a statement. notice At the end of the technology demonstration. “Developing technologies that allow us to use resources moon Mars is critical to establishing a long-term presence on the Moon, creating a strong lunar economy, and supporting the first human exploration campaign to Mars.

According to NASA, the Mars instrument met all technical requirements and worked under the most diverse conditions during the Martian year. The developers of the tool have learned a lot about the technology. But the raw numbers are impressive, too: according to this, Moxy produced 12 grams of oxygen per hour at one point – double what was actually expected. The device’s last firing on August 7 produced 9.8 grams of oxygen.

Mars crews can produce oxygen themselves

“By testing this technology under real-world conditions, we are one step closer to a future in which astronauts live outside Earth on the Red Planet,” says NASA employee Trudy Curtis. Because that’s the background to the technology pitch: If people one day travel to Mars, they’d better bring as little oxygen with them as possible. After all, each kilogram of freight costs a lot of money and requires space, which is expensive. Everything that can be produced locally must be produced there.

Domestic oxygen production would be practical for space travel for two reasons: After all, a future Martian crew not only needs oxygen to breathe, but also as rocket fuel. The amounts of oxygen produced by Moxie are far from sufficient for a human crew on Mars. According to NASA, 25 to 30 tons of oxygen are needed for liftoff from Mars alone. In addition, there is oxygen needed for breathing.

NASA is happy to experiment with oxygen on Mars

No matter how happy you are at NASA, it is clear that the next step will not be to build a larger “Moxie 2.0” – it will be a system that contains an oxygen generator like the “Moxie” and also makes it possible to supply oxygen to it. It is said to liquefy and store.

The scientist behind the instrument, Michael Hecht (MIT), now wants to see that other technologies also get their chance on Mars. “We have to make decisions about what things to validate on Mars,” he explains in a NASA statement. “I think there are a lot of techniques on this list; I’m so glad ‘Moxie’ was first.” (Tab)