Perseverance Extracts First Oxygen from Red Planet

William Robinson writes: A toaster-size, experimental instrument aboard Perseverance called the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE), has successfully demonstrated technology to convert some of the Red Planet’s thin, carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere into oxygen. The conversion process requires high levels of heat to reach a temperature of approximately 1,470 degrees Fahrenheit (800 Celsius). To accommodate this, the MOXIE unit is made with heat-tolerant materials. These include 3D-printed nickel alloy parts, which heat and cool the gases flowing through it, and a lightweight aerogel that helps hold in the heat. In this first operation, MOXIE’s oxygen production was quite modest – about 5 grams, equivalent to about 10 minutes worth of breathable oxygen for an astronaut and MOXIE is designed to generate up to 10 grams of oxygen per hour. For future missions, Oxygen is the key for rockets or astronauts as we move toward our goal of one day seeing humans on Mars because getting four astronauts off the Martian surface on a future mission would require approximately 15,000 pounds (7 metric tons) of rocket fuel and 55,000 pounds (25 metric tons) of oxygen.