Oxygen Produced on Mars: Mars is seen as the next destination for humans. American space agency NASA is preparing to send humans to this planet. Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX company is also building a human settlement on Mars. However, there is no oxygen on Mars, so humans cannot survive there. However, now NASA has overcome this challenge.
In one of its blogs, NASA said it has successfully prepared oxygen on Mars. American space agency NASA’s Perseverance Rover is revolving around Mars. NASA said an experiment was done to produce oxygen through the rover, which was ultimately successful. In this way, oxygen has finally been prepared for the Red Planet. This successful experiment by NASA has opened the way for humans to settle on Mars.
How Was Oxygen Prepared?
America’s Massachusetts Institutes of Technology (MIT) prepared a microwave-oven-sized device. This is known as MOXIE. NASA said that MOXIE was sent to Mars with the rover. With its help, oxygen has been prepared from carbon dioxide present on Mars. The space agency said that this test has shown that we can convert the carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere of Mars into oxygen. This will make our future Mars missions even easier.
NASA has prepared 122 grams of oxygen through MOXIE. Even though this seems very low, this device has produced more oxygen than expected. The oxygen designed through MOXIE is up to 98 per cent pure or better. NASA says that oxygen can not only be used for breathing but also as fuel. NASA scientists say this technology is very important for building bases on places like the Moon and Mars.
How Does MOXIE Work?
The MOXIE device sent with NASA’s rover uses an electrochemical process. It separates one oxygen atom from each molecule of carbon dioxide, i.e. CO2, present in the atmosphere of Mars. After this, the extracted oxygen atom is analyzed to determine its purity. Besides, the quantity of oxygen gas produced is also checked. Through this technology, astronauts can stay on Mars for a long time.
