How to make oxygen on mars is no longer a science-fiction issue. NASA already has a method of making oxygen while on the Red Planet. A small amount of oxygen from a device called MOXIE was produced in an experimental test. The machine produced molecule oxygen from carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere. The experiment done was much smaller than what would be needed for a human’s oxygen needs, but it proved that oxygen can be made on Mars without bringing any equipment from Earth. Now the question is if this device can be made big enough not only to sustain human life, but also to allow astronauts to leave Mars and return to Earth.
How to Make Oxygen on Mars When the Atmosphere Is Almost Impossible to Breathe
In order to learn how to make oxygen on Mars, you need to know what exists on Mars to begin with. There is a lot of Carbon Dioxide on Mars which composes 95% of the atmosphere on Mars. The atmosphere on Mars is very thin compared to Earth’s atmosphere. There is some oxygen on Mars just not nearly as much as Earth has. NASA states that the density of oxygen is about 1/10,000 that of Earth’s. That does not sound very inviting to come to Mars to get oxygen, but there is something within carbon dioxide that we need. Carbon Dioxide molecule contains two oxygen atoms and one carbon atom. If engineers can find a way to extract those oxygen atoms from carbon dioxide, then they will have a solution to producing oxygen on Mars. This is exactly how to make oxygen on mars using the technology shown in MOXIE. The key concept here is that while researchers are not manufacturing oxygen from nothing, they are breaking down a product in order to make another product out of it.
NASA will setup a base on moon’s south pole.
How MOXIE Turns Martian Carbon Dioxide Into Oxygen
The most crucial innovation in relation to how to make oxygen on Mars was introduced by NASA’s Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment, refered to as MOXIE. This experiment was carried aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in February 2021, and acted as a technological demonstrator, not intended to produce oxygen for any prolonged period of time, but rather to showcase that oxygen can indeed be obtained on Mars.
The first step in the process is for MOXIE to suck in air from the atmosphere on Mars. Since the atmospher on Mars is so thin, the air has to be compressed before it can be processed in the following steps. The compressed air is then sent into a solid oxide electrolysis unit, which is essentially another name for an electrochemical cell, but run in reverse than how it would be used as a fuel cell.
MOXIE then heats the mixture to around 800 degrees Celsius. This is done because the ceramic electrolyte in the electrolysis unit can conduct oxygen ions at such a high heat. The electrical current from the unit then facilitates the separation of oxygen atoms from the carbon dioxide molecules in the mix.
The chemical equation is as follows:
2CO₂ → 2CO + O₂
The overall reaction may be simple in form, but in reality, there is some complex machinery involved in getting oxygen atoms to split off from the COâ‚‚ molecules. The oxygen ions in the electrolysis unit are forced to travel across the electrolyte in the form of a solid. On the other side of the electrolysis unit, the oxygen molecules are reunited to form Oâ‚‚. This shows the answer to “how to make oxygen on Mars” is not as simple as collecting Martian air and filtering it.
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What MOXIE Actually Proved on Mars?
The results of MOXIE’s experiment makes how to make oxygen on Mars much more than a theoretical idea.
On August 7, 2023, MOXIE team got their 16th and final chance to produce oxygen. From these tests, they were able to produce a total of 122 grams of oxygen. The highest amount of oxygen was produced at 12 grams per hour with an efficiency of over 98% or higher. These numbers are a very small amount to sustain humans but that is not the point of the experiment. MOXIE was about the size of a microwave oven while the machine will need to be much bigger. NASA stated it would need to be roughly 100 times bigger to actually produce enough oxygen for humans.
The experiment was also conducted under differing Martian conditions throughout the year in order to understand how the machine reacted to them. This is an important part of how to make oxygen on Mars at a useful scale. A machine that only works under perfect conditions wouldn’t be nearly enough. Engineers need to know how their machines are going to react to the constantly varying conditions, temperatures, air pressure, dust and more that they are going to encounter.
Why Making Oxygen on Mars Could Be More Important for Rockets Than Breathing
One of the most surprising things about learning how to produce oxygen on Mars is that… breathing might not be the biggest reason.
Rocket engines require not just fuel, but also an oxidizer. On Earth, rockets carry both along, because it is not available in space. But for a Mars-bound mission, to carry every single molecule of oxygen you use, from Earth would make your mission much heavier and therefore more expensive. However, if scientists could make oxygen on Mars before or during the departure, they would store it as liquid oxygen, and use it as astronauts return vehicle’s oxidizer. NASA estimates that this could supply more than 75% of the propellant needed for the human Mars exploration mission, since the oxygen makes up such a large percetage of the total mass of propellant, about (33-50% of the total propellant mass is oxygen). NASA estimates that between 33 and 50 metric tons of propellant would be needed to fuel a manned Mars departure.
Instead of hauling huge amounts of oxygen from Earth, you could instead ship the equipment needed to synthesize it, and use Mars itself as your gas station. This is the reason why scientists are so interested in learning how to make oxygen on mars.
Could Mars Produce Oxygen From Water Instead?
Carbon dioxide is not the only possible source. Another approach to how to make oxygen on Mars would be extracting water and split it into Hydrogen and Oxygen by the process of electrolysis. This method would be particularly beneficial if large quantities of water could be found on Mars. As the hydrogen would also have its uses as a chemical fuel, and the oxygen would also be useful for life support and possibly fuel.
Yet scientists seeking to use this method would face the challenge of finding water in the first place before being able to extract it, purify it, and then provide the electricity needed to split it apart. Therefore, it could be concluded that Mars missions would be best served by using whatever methods are available to produce oxygen, instead of relying on a singular method. The production of oxygen fuel on Mars using MOXIE’s method of carbon dioxide conversion is the the most attractive one because it would utilize carbon dioxide found in the atmosphere, which is already abundant in Martian atmosphere.
Conclusion
So how to make oxygen on Mars?
Well so far the best method that worked was taking the carbon dioxide from Mars atmosphere and splitting the oxygen from it using a solid oxide electrolysis. This method has been tested on the Red Planet by NASA and the results were great because they were even able to get oxygen that was almost pure. Of course that is just a test and the actual machine for a human to go on Mars will have to be way better, have a lot of power, can store plenty of oxygen for the mission, and lasts for many years. The good news is that scientist don’t have to wonder how to make oxygen on mars. What we need to figure out now to create a machine that can produce a good amount of oxygen for people to survive and be able to get them home again.