It is not an easy task to produce enough oxygen for astronauts in space or to take them to the mission. So much so that it becomes a complex issue that gets more difficult as you travel to Mars or beyond. But now, researchers have discovered a new way to produce oxygen for astronauts using magnets.
NASA already uses special centrifuges to produce oxygen in space, but these machines are both large and heavy. In addition, they consume a lot of energy and need special care. Therefore, producing oxygen in this way is not very efficient in terms of cost and benefit.
Possible to produce oxygen in space using magnets
The new research shows that it is possible to achieve the same results in a much more practical way by using magnets. Simulation tests carried out at the fall tower at the Center for Applied Space Technology and Micro Gravity (ZARM) in Germany have been successfully concluded.
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“After years of analytical and computational research, being able to use this amazing drop tower in Germany has provided tangible proof that this concept will work in a zero-g space environment,” said Professor Hanspeter Schaub of the University of Colorado Boulder.
The study revealed that the gas bubbles that emerge to produce oxygen can be collected by immersing them in a different type of aqueous solution by a simple neodymium magnet in microgravity. The researchers note that for long-term space missions, this technique could have tremendous results.
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