Space Mars Mission
Technicians at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory lower the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilisation Experiment (MOXIE) instrument into the belly of the Perseverance rover
NASA extracts Oxygen from the Red Planet In a milestone achievement, NASA’s MOXIE instrument converted carbon dioxide into oxygen
Photograph: NASA/JPL-Caltech
By Ayushee Chaudhary Space exploration literally knows no bound and the latest accomplishments that humans are embarking on are simply amazing. In such an astounding breakthrough, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Agency) managed to achieve another first with its Perseverance Rover that landed on the red planet mid-February this year. The six-wheeled robot on the Martian surface, recently converted some of the “Red Planet’s thin, carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere into oxygen”, NASA stated. A toaster-size, experimental instrument aboard Perseverance called the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilisation Experiment (MOXIE) accomplished the test that took place on April 20, the 60th Martian day, the space agency informed. While this demonstration is a mere beginning on a small scale, it is without a doubt a remarkable achievement as this
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technology could pave the way for isolating and storing oxygen on Mars to further help power rockets that could lift astronauts off the red planet’s surface in the future. “When we send humans to Mars, we will want them to return safely, and to do that they need a rocket to lift off the planet. Liquid oxygen propellant is something we could make there and not have to bring with us. One idea would be to bring an empty oxygen tank and fill it up on Mars,” said Michael Hecht, MOXIE’s Principal Investigator In addition to that, devices like MOXIE might even make furnish breathable air for astronauts themselves. MOXIE is an exploration technology investigation – as is the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyser (MEDA) weather station – and is sponsored by STMD and Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate.
ISSUE 4 • 2021
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