The Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment is a small box located inside the rover that takes carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere and converts it into oxygen.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Experiment to make oxygen on planets Mars has ended, with the Perseverance rover’s MOXIE instrument completing its mission. MOXIE, or Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment, is a small box located inside the rover that takes carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere and converts it into oxygen.
After 16 successful runs, the experiment is now complete. MOXIE works like a fuel cell running in reverse, absorbing carbon dioxide and then using electricity to break down the molecules into oxygen and carbon monoxide. This idea is well understood on Earth, but has never been tried on Mars before.
So the goal of this experiment is just to see if the idea works and can be used as a potential future technology for manned missions.
Reported Digital Trends, Sunday (10/9/2023), this experiment went according to plan, producing a record amount of oxygen, and producing a total of 122 grams of oxygen over its lifetime. The experiment was spread out at different times of the Martian year to see how it would perform in different temperatures and dusty environments, and it produced up to 12 grams of oxygen per hour, double the initial target.
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said in a statement that MOXIE’s impressive performance shows that it is possible to extract oxygen from the Martian atmosphere—oxygen that could help supply breathable air or rocket fuel for future astronauts.
“Developing technologies that allow us to use resources on the moon and Mars is critical to establishing a long-term lunar presence, creating a robust lunar economy, and allowing us to support early human exploration campaigns to Mars,” Melroy said.
As well as being notable for its own achievements and as a way of producing oxygen for future manned missions, the experiment also demonstrated the broader utility of an approach called in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). The idea is to use materials and resources available in space environments, such as the carbon dioxide atmosphere on Mars or the dusty regolith on the moon, to create the resources needed for missions.
The instrument’s lead researcher, Michael Hecht from MIT, said MOXIE was clearly an inspiration for the ISRU community.
“This shows NASA is willing to invest in future technologies like this. And this has become a mainstay that has influenced the exciting space resources industry,” said Hecht.
2023-09-10 07:46:41
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