It is planned to carry out the first manned mission to Mars in the coming years, where we have already sent many vehicles. In the future, it is planned that humans will colonize and live long-term on the Red Planet. As you can imagine, there are some things we need to survive here.
We can say that the most important of these is oxygen. Researchers have been working on this for a while. Now, it has been announced that a technology developed for oxygen production has produced promising results.
MIT’s Moxie instrument produced as much oxygen as a small tree on Mars
A device called Moxie, developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to break down carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, set off to the planet in 2020 on NASA’s Mars exploration vehicle Perseverance. In the statements made shortly after its landing on Mars, it was stated that the device produced its first oxygen. Scientists have now shared exciting new information about the device.
The researchers stated that Moxie can produce oxygen at night, during the day and throughout the seasons. According to the statements, the team operated the device seven times for one-hour periods throughout 2021. With these experiments, it was aimed to observe how the device works in different scenarios such as night, day and the seasons of the planet.
Scientists stated that Moxie managed to produce 6 grams of oxygen in each of the experiments. It has been recorded that this is equal to the amount of oxygen produced by a small tree on earth. Emphasizing that the device can achieve this on a regular basis, the researchers also noted that it is an important step towards developing larger systems suitable for a human population in the future: “This is the first step to truly use resources from another planet and turn them into something useful for humans. ”
The device will soon be operated for longer periods of time for more oxygen
Although the experiments gave good results, we can add that Moxie still needs to be successful in some important issues. Strong fluctuations in the Martian atmosphere can cause air density to change drastically with temperature. It’s also a challenge for researchers that the device will soon be tested at dawn and dusk, when temperatures fluctuate drastically.
Finally, let’s add that Moxie’s operations will accelerate during the spring season on the planet, where atmospheric density and carbon dioxide levels are highest. The researchers said they wanted to produce as much oxygen as they could; therefore, they say that they will run the device as long as possible during the specified period. We’ll see how this results in the future.
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