Experiment on Perseverance has successfully produced oxygen repeatedly
An engineering experiment on the Mars rover Perseverance, dubbed MOXIE, has now successfully produced oxygen from the carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere, and has done so seven different times. After filtering an air sample…
…the air is then pressurized, and sent through the Solid OXide Electrolyzer (SOXE), an instrument developed and built by OxEon Energy, that electrochemically splits the carbon dioxide-rich air into oxygen ions and carbon monoxide. The oxygen ions are then isolated and recombined to form breathable, molecular oxygen, or O2, which MOXIE then measures for quantity and purity before releasing it harmlessly back into the air, along with carbon monoxide and other atmospheric gases.
Since the rover’s landing in February 2021, MOXIE engineers have started up the instrument seven times throughout the Martian year, each time taking a few hours to warm up, then another hour to make oxygen before powering back down. Each run was scheduled for a different time of day or night, and in different seasons, to see whether MOXIE could accommodate shifts in the planet’s atmospheric conditions.
During each run, the instrument produced about six grams of oxygen per hour, though a recent run produced more than 10 grams per hour, about half what a human needs to survive.
MOXIE runs only for short times, because it uses so much power the rover can’t do other work during runs. It is also only a technology test, so its operation is given a lower priority. Nonetheless, it appears that this test has successfully demonstrated that future astronauts on Mars will have a system for producing an unlimited supply of breathable oxygen. The next step would be to scale this up to produce enough oxygen to also fuel the astronaut’s return rocket.
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An engineering experiment on the Mars rover Perseverance, dubbed MOXIE, has now successfully produced oxygen from the carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere, and has done so seven different times. After filtering an air sample…
…the air is then pressurized, and sent through the Solid OXide Electrolyzer (SOXE), an instrument developed and built by OxEon Energy, that electrochemically splits the carbon dioxide-rich air into oxygen ions and carbon monoxide. The oxygen ions are then isolated and recombined to form breathable, molecular oxygen, or O2, which MOXIE then measures for quantity and purity before releasing it harmlessly back into the air, along with carbon monoxide and other atmospheric gases.
Since the rover’s landing in February 2021, MOXIE engineers have started up the instrument seven times throughout the Martian year, each time taking a few hours to warm up, then another hour to make oxygen before powering back down. Each run was scheduled for a different time of day or night, and in different seasons, to see whether MOXIE could accommodate shifts in the planet’s atmospheric conditions.
During each run, the instrument produced about six grams of oxygen per hour, though a recent run produced more than 10 grams per hour, about half what a human needs to survive.
MOXIE runs only for short times, because it uses so much power the rover can’t do other work during runs. It is also only a technology test, so its operation is given a lower priority. Nonetheless, it appears that this test has successfully demonstrated that future astronauts on Mars will have a system for producing an unlimited supply of breathable oxygen. The next step would be to scale this up to produce enough oxygen to also fuel the astronaut’s return rocket.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
What about the CO? That’s some bad stuff. What’s the concentration on that?
They have created the leaf!!!!!!