In February 2021, when NASA’s car-sized Perseverance rover touched down on Mars to global fanfare, a modest golden box called MOXIE also landed.
Tied to reveal life perseveranceThis toaster-sized block was ready to start a revolution in the space exploration game by producing oxygen on the red planet.
Moxy, which stands for “Experience the Use of Mars’ Oxygen Resources in Situ,” quickly began to live up to its name, generating oxygen at an impressive rate. It did it all the way until last August 7, when the sturdy little cube produced 9.8 grams (0.35 ounces) of oxygen in its 16th and final run.
NASA announced on Wednesday (September 6) that the MOXY mission is now complete. The instrument produced a total of 122 grams (4.3 ounces) of Martian oxygen, about the amount a small dog would breathe in 10 hours, and double the amount scientists think MOXIE could produce during its lifetime.
At its most efficient, MOXIE produced 12 grams (0.4 ounces) of the life-sustaining element every hour. And the oxygen it produced was at least 98% pure, numbers that bode well for extensive future efforts that could support human exploration of the Red Planet.
“When the first astronauts land on Mars, their descendants may have a device the size of a microwave oven, thanks to the air they breathe and the rocket fuel they bring home,” NASA officials wrote. in the current situation Wednesday.
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Why don’t we just take oxygen from Earth?
There are two main advantages of oxygen production Mars. First, of course, it is important for future astronauts heading to the abandoned world to have as much oxygen supply as possible during their stay.
“By demonstrating this technology in real-world conditions, we are one step closer to a future in which astronauts live outside Earth on the Red Planet,” Trust Curtis, director of technology offerings for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, said in the release.
But secondly, and perhaps most importantly, oxygen is an essential component of rocket fuel.
When space agencies eventually send astronauts to Mars, it won’t (hopefully) be a one-way trip. Mission planners would have to send enough rocket fuel to the planet for the crew to return to Land when they finish their tasks. And this amount of rocket fuel for the return trip would be very large. to burn its own fuel, as does NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Explainthe rocket must contain more oxygen (which acts as an oxidizer) by weight.
For example, getting four astronauts off the surface of Mars would require about 15,000 pounds (7 metric tons) of rocket fuel and 55,000 pounds (25 metric tons) of oxygen. Well, that means 55,000 pounds of oxygen that the crew has to transport to Mars, in addition to the oxygen needed to get the rocket off the ground. And The supply of oxygen needed for astronauts to breathe. Not to mention all the other cargo the team is likely to carry on board.
So, the scientists asked, why not shave off some of that weight by making the oxygen portion of the rocket fuel live on the Red Planet?
This would be better for the environment, more cost-effective, and would make humanity’s dream of an eventual Martian society more feasible.
“Rocket propellants are oxygen-based, and future explorers will depend on producing propellants on Mars for the trip home,” said Jim Reuter, associate administrator in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, he said in a statement After the first oxygen extraction from MOXIE, in April 2021.
In fact, future lunar astronauts could benefit from MOXIE as well, if the device can translate its capabilities to work on the surface of the Moon – a much closer dream, since we know this world more intimately than we do on Mars. India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft.Now in sleep mode) actually landed in Lunar South Pole just last month in order to begin exploring how to extract water from the moon. NASA Artemis The missions also intend to work on this feat, because water, like oxygen, is also essential to the development of rocket fuel. (It can be divided into its constituent hydrogen and oxygen).
Minimizing payloads appears to be a critical project for space agencies looking forward to a future in which humans are not limited to terrestrial lifestyles.
“Developing technologies that allow us to use resources on the Moon and Mars is critical to building a long-term lunar presence, establishing a strong lunar economy, and allowing us to support an initial human exploration expedition to Mars,” said Pam Milroy, NASA Deputy Administrator. In a statement Wednesday.
How does Moxie work?
In short, MOXIE has the ability to take carbon dioxide molecules from the thin Martian atmosphere, which are composed of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms, and extract those oxygen fractions. This is the basis.
But the hard part is that this process requires a temperature of about 1470 degrees Fahrenheit (800 degrees Celsius). It must take place in the variety of circumstances that occur on Mars as the planet progresses through its year. The first of these hurdles was sorted out by manufacturing MOXIE from heat-tolerant materials, including nickel alloy parts, lightweight aerodynamics, and a gold plating that can reflect infrared heat and thus keep the Persistent safe from MOXIE’s scorching situation.
Gold paints are known to be great for this reason – James Webb Space TelescopeImage mirrors, for example, have such a layer because the observatory is designed to capture specific infrared wavelengths from deep space. The gold part helps reflect infrared light onto the infrared analyzer sensors of the binoculars.
BACK TO MOXIE: In short, the mission was a resounding success. So much so, that the team says the next step is not building MOXIE 2.0, but rather a full-scale system that includes a MOXIE box along with a way to store and liquefy all the oxygen produced.
“We have to make decisions about what things need to be validated on Mars,” the instrument’s principal investigator, Michael Hecht of MIT, said in the statement.
“I think there are many technologies on that list, and I’m so glad MOXIE was first.”