NASA's oxygen generator 'MOXIE' completed a mission on Mars for about 2 years and succeeded in generating about 122 g of oxygen in 16 experiments
Mars has an environment that is relatively similar to Earth's in the solar system, so it is attracting attention as a potential destination for human migration. NASA has installed an oxygen generator ``
NASA's Oxygen-Generating Experiment MOXIE Completes Mars Mission | NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-s-oxygen-generating-experiment-moxie-completes-mars-mission
NASA's Perseverance rover produces oxygen on Mars | Live Science
The oxygen generator ``MOXIE'' is installed on the Mars unmanned probe ``Perseverance,'' which began operating on Mars in 2021, and full-scale oxygen generation experiments were conducted from 2021.
According to NASA, MOXIE electrolyzes carbon dioxide molecules (CO₂), the main component of Mars' atmosphere, to remove oxygen atoms (O) and safely stores the oxygen inside the capsule. The remaining carbon monoxide (CO) is then released into the atmosphere.
Since February 2021, when Perseverance landed on Mars, MOXIE has conducted a total of 16 oxygen production experiments, and the 16th experiment, conducted on September 7, 2023, produced approximately 9.8 g of oxygen. It has been extremely successful. NASA also reports that at its most efficient, it produced 12 grams of oxygen per hour with more than 98% purity.
MOXIE, which ended its role after the experiment on September 7, 2023, has so far succeeded in producing a total of 122g of oxygen, which is enough for one small dog to produce for about 10 hours and for a human to produce for 3 hours. The amount of oxygen that can be breathed over a period of time.
'We are proud to support groundbreaking technology like MOXIE,' said Trudy Cortez of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate. 'We are one step closer to a future where humans leave Earth and live on Mars.'
``MOXIE's oxygen production technology shows that Mars can be self-sufficient in producing oxygen from the atmosphere,'' said NASA Associate Administrator Pamela Melroy. He further states, ``Oxygen produced using the Martian atmosphere will be useful for breathing for astronauts working on Mars in the future, and may also be used as propellant for rockets.''
NASA has revealed that it plans to develop a system to stably store oxygen produced by devices like MOXIE in the form of liquefied oxygen.
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