In a 8 September 2022 article at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE) Spectrum Magazine web site, Payal Dhar reports on the
Mars Oxygen ISRU (In-Situ Resource Utilization) Experiment - or MOIXIE -
aboard the Perseverance rover on Mars.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Payal Dhar, IEEE Spectrum
Planning for the return journey is an integral part of the preparations for a crewed Mars mission. Astronauts will require a total mass of about 50 tonnes of rocket propellent for the ascent vehicle that will lift them off the planet’s surface, including 31 tonnes of oxygen approximately. The less popular option is for crewed missions to carry the required oxygen themselves. But scientists are optimistic that it could instead be produced from the carbon dioxide–rich Martian atmosphere itself, using a system called MOXIE.
The Mars Oxygen ISRU (In-Situ Resource Utilization) Experiment is an 18-kilogram unit housed within the Perseverance rover on Mars. The unit is “the size of a toaster,” adds Jeffrey Hoffman, professor of aerospace engineering at MIT. Its job is to electrochemically break down carbon dioxide collected from the Martian atmosphere into oxygen and carbon monoxide. It also tests the purity of the oxygen.
Between February 2021, when it arrived on Mars aboard the Perseverance, and the end of the year, MOXIE has had several successful test runs. According to a review of the system by Hoffman and colleagues, published in Science Advances, it has demonstrated its ability to produce oxygen during both night and day, when temperatures can vary by over 100 ºC. The generation and purity rates of oxygen also meet requirements to produce rocket propellent and for breathing. The authors assert that a scaled-up version of MOXIE could produce the required oxygen for lift-off as well as for the astronauts to breathe.
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Full article here, "MOXIE Shows How to Make Oxygen on Mars Results from a test unit aboard the Perseverance rover have scientists optimistic for future crewed missions" :-
https://spectrum.ieee.org/making-oxygen-on-mars
20 May 2021 article at IEEE Spectrum "MOXIE Might Be the Most Exciting Thing Perseverance Has Brought to Mars" :-
https://spectrum.ieee.org/moxie-migh...rought-to-mars
NASA MOXIE briefs :-
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/space...ruments/moxie/
https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/space...or-scientists/
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/n...rom-red-planet
MOXIE Shows How to Make Oxygen on Mars - scientists optimistic for crewed missions
