NASA's Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in February 2021, has successfully produced enough oxygen on the red planet to sustain an astronaut for several hours. This achievement marks a significant milestone in the quest for human exploration and potential colonization of Mars, Sky News reported.
The process involves Perseverance's onboard device called MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment), which has been periodically converting the planet's carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere into small amounts of breathable oxygen for over two years. The device, no larger than a microwave, has demonstrated the feasibility of extracting oxygen from Mars' atmosphere.
MOXIE has managed to produce a total of 122 grams of oxygen during its 16 separate operations since its first attempt in April 2021. Notably, just 5 grams of oxygen are sufficient to support an astronaut for approximately 10 minutes. This breakthrough offers hope that oxygen production on a larger scale could be viable, supporting human life and providing essential rocket fuel for future Mars missions.
At its peak performance, MOXIE produced 12 grams of oxygen per hour, surpassing NASA's initial goal and achieving at least 98% purity. In its most recent run, the device generated 9.8 grams of oxygen.
Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy lauded MOXIE's impressive performance, emphasizing its potential significance for future Mars exploration. She stated,
"MOXIE's impressive performance shows that it is feasible to extract oxygen from Mars' atmosphere - oxygen that could help supply breathable air or rocket propellant to future astronauts."
The successful oxygen production by MOXIE addresses one of the critical challenges in planning for human missions to Mars, as it demonstrates the ability to generate essential resources on the planet itself. This development aligns with NASA's broader goals of establishing a long-term lunar presence, fostering a robust lunar economy, and preparing for initial human exploration campaigns to Mars.
While Perseverance's primary mission objective is to search for signs of ancient microbial life on Mars, MOXIE's accomplishments contribute valuable insights into conditions for future human exploration and the potential sustainability of life beyond Earth. The Mars mission has already witnessed significant milestones, including the historic flight of the Ingenuity mini-helicopter on another planet in April 2021.
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