According to NASA, a set of tests on an oxygen-producing gadget installed on Mars has yielded better results than anticipated. MOXIE is the system’s name. Its purpose is to transform carbon dioxide that is taken from the Martian atmosphere into oxygen. The electrolysis process is how the device operates. In order to remove oxygen atoms from carbon dioxide molecules, this technique needs extremely high heat. NASA estimates that around 95% of the Martian atmosphere is composed of carbon dioxide. Mostly argon and molecular nitrogen make up the remainder. The Martian atmosphere is composed of only 0.16 percent molecular oxygen.
But a significant amount of oxygen will be needed if humanity are to explore Mars and perhaps other worlds in the future. According to NASA, the chemical element will be required for respiration by humans and for the production of rocket fuel during launches from the Martian surface. The MOXIE demonstration project was funded by NASA. The gadget was made by a group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The MOXIE instrument was sent on NASA’s Perseverance rover to Mars. In February 2021, Perseverance made landfall on the Red Planet. The instrument is a box-shaped gadget that is fastened to the rover.
In April 2021, NASA released its first MOXIE system results. The space agency said at the time that the instrument had successfully produced oxygen from carbon dioxide found in the Martian atmosphere. MOXIE produced 5.4 grams of oxygen in an hour during the first experiment. NASA then conducted a number of follow-up studies to evaluate the system’s performance. The demonstration project’s founders announced earlier this month that MOXIE had finished its sixteenth and last experiment. The “impressive performance” of the gadget, they said, demonstrated that it was feasible to extract oxygen from the Martian atmosphere. According to the release, this oxygen “may help supply breathable air or rocket propellant to future astronauts.”
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