Oxygen can be produced on Mars in many ways. At this point there is. One of the most useful gases in the universe has been proved by an international team of researchers after the success of the MOXIE experiment. They might be able to do it on Mars.
The widely reported success of the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment may be why researchers are looking for an alternative. There are a few technical reasons why MoXie is not an ideal solution. MoXie is based on the idea that solid electrolysis cells can break carbon dioxide into oxygen in certain environments.
The pressure inside the chamber has to be at least 1 bar. The atmospheric pressure on Mars is less than 1% of the pressure needed for MOXIE to operate properly, so it's not a problem on Earth.
The system requires large, cumbersome heaters and pumps to force the necessary environmental conditions on an atmosphere that is typically far outside those values. In terms of the mass needed to get off of Earth, those pieces of large, cumbersome equipment come at a significant increased cost.
It would take 25 kilowatts of power to create enough oxygen to support two people in the experiment. That's less power than the average American household uses in a day, and it's only for the purpose of creating oxygen.
There are many problems associated with this reaction, from the carbon that is the other by-product of this reaction to the likelihood of the intake pumps getting stuck. NASA invested in the NIAC program in order to try and eliminate some of the known problems with MOXie.
A new paper uses a completely different approach. The system tries to separate the oxygen from the carbon monoxide after the atoms are split. The O 2 could be sucked away by a system.
The combined use of these new materials with low-temperature plasmas has been a subject of interest. There are a lot of factors that go into the design of a functional system, such as how long the gas is in the air before the oxygen is pulled out.
It can result in more than just a machine. The portable oxygen creation systems could be used by astronauts to walk in the Martian atmosphere without carrying an O2 tank. Nitrogen fixation techniques could be critical to any future farming on the red planet if different types of gas configurations are used.
Humans still have a long way to go before they can breathe on Mars. The proof of concept paper is a positive step. It is possible that the future of this technology will be closer to home, as it would attract the attention of many governments and non-profits right now.
You can learn more.
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UT successfully extracts oxygen from the Martian atmosphere. There is about 10 minutes of breathing time for an astronauts.
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