[Lekooks] Fwd: Successful conversion of CO2 to O2 on Mars

Thu Apr 22 11:36:58 CDT 2021

OXYGEN PRODUCTION ON MARS!!!
We always like to share exciting scientific news, especially as we look
to the future!
Our good friend Dr. Donald Rapp is a co-investigator at JPL on the MOXIE
project.
Paula (with Greg)

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Donald Rapp <drdrapp at earthlink.net>
Date: Thu, Apr 22, 2021 at 8:42 AM
Subject: Successful conversion of CO2 to O2 on Mars
To:

Our first run on Mars was a complete success. Everything went exactly as we
had modeled in advance of the run. Here is an example of real data from
Mars. This shows the flow rate of Martian “air” ingested into MOXIE during
the approximately 1-hour period of oxygen production. The flow rate is
measured in grams/hour. Data take every second. There were two settings; 55
g/h and 71 g/h. We produced about 6 grams of oxygen in this early test run.

*Nasa rover extracts oxygen from Mars atmosphere in key breakthrough for
future crewed missions*

Tech demo could pave way to producing breathable air on Red Planet

In a first, an instrument aboard Nasa
<https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/nasa>’s latest Mars
<https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/mars> rover has produced oxygen from
some of the Red Planet’s thin carbon dioxide rich atmosphere, an advance
that could lead to new ways for future astronauts to produce breathable air
on the planet.

According to the US space agency, the breakthrough also opens new doors for
future missions where oxygen gas produced from the Martian atmosphere could
be stored to help power rockets and lift astronauts off the planet.

The experimental demonstration by the toaster-sized instrument aboard the
Perseverance rover – the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization
Experiment, or MOXIE – is a critical first step at converting carbon
dioxide to oxygen on Mars, according to Jim Reuter, associate administrator
of Nasa’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD).

“MOXIE has more work to do, but the results from this technology
demonstration are full of promise as we move toward our goal of one day
seeing humans on Mars,” Mr Reuter said.

Since rocket propellants need oxygen, Nasa scientists hope future explorers
could produce the gas on Mars to make their trip back home.

But this would be a challenging task given that a rocket requires nearly
seven metric tons of rocket fuel and 25 metric tons of oxygen to get four
astronauts off the Martian surface.

“The astronauts who spend a year on the surface will maybe use one metric
ton between them,” added MOXIE’s principal investigator, Michael Hecht from
MIT.

As transporting the required 25 tons of oxygen from Earth to Mars would be
an “arduous task,” carrying an instrument like MOXIE that can produce the
gas to the Red Planet would be “far more economical and practical,” the US
space agency said in a statement.

According to Nasa, MOXIE works by separating oxygen atoms from carbon
dioxide (CO2) molecules in the Martian atmosphere.

The instrument breaks down CO2 – made up of one carbon atom and two oxygen
atoms – producing carbon monoxide as a waste product which is emitted into
the Martian atmosphere.

MOXIE has a component made of called the Solid OXide Electrolysis reactor
(SOXE) which enables it to convert 30–50 per cent of the hot CO2 to carbon
monoxide and oxygen gas, depending on operating conditions, Nasa scientists
had noted in a previous study
<https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11214-020-00782-8#Sec1>.

According to this study, SOXE is made of stacks of cells which split carbon
dioxide gas into oxygen by applying current across its terminals in a
process called electrolysis.

A single inlet stream in this device results in two outlet streams, one for
the waste products, and the other for the oxygen gas.

The space agency noted in a statement that the conversion process requires
high levels of heat to reach a temperature of approximately 800 degrees
Celsius, and to accommodate this the instrument is made with heat-tolerant
materials.

These materials include 3D-printed nickel alloy parts which regulate the
temperature of gases flowing through MOXIE, and a lightweight aerogel to
hold in the heat.

It also has a thin gold coating on the outside to reflect infrared heat,
preventing it from radiating outwards and damaging other parts of the
Perseverance rover.

In the current operation, MOXIE produced about five grams of the gas,
equivalent to about 10 minutes’ worth of breathable oxygen for an
astronaut, but it is designed to generate up to 10 grams of oxygen per
hour, Nasa noted.

According to the US space agency, the demonstration was carried out to
ensure the instrument survived the launch from Earth after its nearly
seven-month long journey through space.

In future operations over the next two years, MOXIE is slated to extract
oxygen at least nine more times.

Not only is it the first instrument to produce oxygen on another world, it
is also a first-of-its-kind technology that will help future astronauts
live off the planets they visit using elements of the world’s environment –
an idea known as in-situ resource utilisation, Nasa noted.

“It’s taking regolith, the substance you find on the ground, and putting it
through a processing plant, making it into a large structure, or taking
carbon dioxide -- the bulk of the atmosphere -- and converting it into
oxygen,” said Trudy Kortes, director of technology demonstrations within
STMD.

“This process allows us to convert these abundant materials into useable
things: propellant, breathable air, or, combined with hydrogen, water,” Ms
Kortes added.

The Perseverance rover’s mission on Mars is mainly one of astrobiology – to
search for signs of ancient microbial life on the Red Planet.

It will characterise the planet’s geology, its past climate, and conduct
experiments to help pave the way for future human exploration of the Red
Planet, as well as collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.

-- 
Paula Hillmann
paula.hillmann at gmail.com
cell: 262-366-5991
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