NASA Extracts Breathable Oxygen from Thin Martian Air

Context

NASA has logged first on its latest mission to Mars that converts carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere into pure, breathable oxygen.

Key points about the extraction

• The extraction of oxygen out of thin air on Mars, was achieved by an experimental device aboard Perseverance.
• The toaster-sized instrument Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilisation Experiment (MOXIE), produced about 5 grams of oxygen.
• It is equivalent to roughly 10 minutes’ worth of breathing for an astronaut.
• MOXIE is the first instrument to produce oxygen on another world.
• It is the first technology of its kind to help future missions “live off the land” of another planet.
• The instrument works through electrolysis, which uses extreme heat to separate oxygen atoms from molecules of carbon dioxide.
• Co2 accounts for about 95% of the atmosphere on Mars.
• The remaining 5% of Mars’ atmosphere consists primarily of molecular nitrogen and argon.
• Oxygen exists on Mars in negligible trace amounts.
• It would reduce the need for taking O2 on mars.