NASA's Mars Oxygen in Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) has recently concluded. MOXIE is a microwave oven sized device that produces a total of 122 grams of oxygen through 16 runs during the mission, equivalent to the amount of oxygen a puppy can breathe within 10 hours.

NASA Deputy Director Pan Meloy stated that MOXIE's performance indicates that extracting oxygen from the Martian atmosphere is feasible. Oxygen can provide breathing for future astronauts arriving on Mars and can also be used as rocket propellant. Developing technologies that enable humans to utilize the resources of the Moon and Mars is crucial for establishing long-term residential bases on the Moon, creating a strong lunar economy, and supporting humanity's first Mars exploration activities.

Yang Yuguang, Vice Chairman of the Space Transport Committee of the International Astronautical Federation, told Science and Technology Daily: "Using the above methods to produce oxygen on a large scale on Mars still faces many difficulties. In addition, in order for humans to survive on Mars, in addition to oxygen gas, there are still many problems that need to be solved.

The oxygen production experiment was successfully completed

MOXIE was developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States and landed on Mars with the Persevere spacecraft in 2021. Since then, MOXIE has been producing oxygen through periodic conversion of carbon dioxide, with the highest efficiency of producing 12 grams of oxygen with a purity of over 98% per hour, twice the initial target set by NASA. Moreover, during its final operation on August 7th this year, MOXIE produced 9.8 grams of oxygen, which was enough for an astronaut to breathe for 3 hours. These developments have brought hope to scientists that humans may one day be able to survive on this uninhabitable planet.

Mars is rich in carbon dioxide, accounting for 95% of its thin atmosphere. MOXIE utilizes electrochemical processes to separate oxygen atoms from the absorbed carbon dioxide gas, analyze their purity, and safely isolate them in capsules, while the remaining portion is discharged in the form of carbon monoxide.

Trudy Cortes, the demonstration director of NASA's Space Technology Mission, believes that by proving technologies like MOXIE in the real world, astronauts can take their goal of living on this red planet one step closer.

Human breathing rocket fuel

Yang Yuguang said, "This oxygen generation system has a wide range of uses, not only for astronauts to breathe, but also as a source of rocket propellant, which is greatly beneficial for future Mars exploration missions

Future astronauts can rely on materials found on the surface of Mars to survive, rather than bringing a large amount of oxygen from Earth to Mars. This concept is known as in situ resource utilization and has now become a hot research field.

Michel Hecht, the chief researcher of MOXIE and a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, stated that in the next step, they do not plan to create MOXIE 2.0, but rather plan to manufacture a full-scale system, including an oxygen generator like MOXIE, as well as facilities for liquefaction and storage of oxygen.

Hecht also hopes to see other technologies play a role on Mars. He stated that NASA must decide which things need to be validated on Mars, and there are many technologies on this list, but he is pleased that MOXIE is the first.

High cost of large-scale production

Yang Yuguang pointed out, "MOXIE has demonstrated for the first time a technology that helps humans survive and leave on Mars, but large-scale oxygen production on Mars still faces many difficulties

He further explained that the first issue is environmental adaptability. The environment on Mars is very harsh, with a very low temperature, with an average temperature of about -62 ℃. Secondly, the atmosphere of Mars is very thin, and Mars lacks the protection of a magnetic field. Therefore, the dose and intensity of radiation on the surface of Mars are very high, which may have a certain impact on the performance of the equipment. In addition, Mars is very far from Earth, making it extremely difficult to send objects to Mars. Currently, only China and the United States have successfully completed it, and the cost is very high. If we want to produce oxygen on a large scale, sending the relevant facilities to Mars will require a huge cost. Unless humans have the technology to transport supplies to Mars at a low cost, the large-scale production of oxygen on Mars is currently only a "mirage".

Although it is possible to produce oxygen that can be breathed by humans on Mars, humans still have to face many challenges in order to survive on Mars. According to an earlier report on the American Fun Science website, in addition to the extremely cold Mars mentioned above, the atmospheric pressure on Mars is very low, which can also pose a great health threat to people living on it. Moreover, humans also need to consider the extreme loss of bone density caused by travel to Mars.

There are many problems that humans face for survival on Mars, especially the lack of a global protective magnetic field, where various types of radiation can directly reach the surface of Mars, bringing extremely adverse effects on human health, "Yang Yuguang emphasized.

Human beings landing on Mars and conducting in-depth research on Mars can better understand the history of the solar system and the future fate of Earth. At the same time, humans can also utilize various material resources on Mars to further advance into the depths of the solar system. "Yang Yuguang said," The success of Mars' oxygen production experiment has taken a solid step forward for humanity in this direction

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