Oxygen Production on Mars

These experiments prove that on the red and dusty surface of Mars, about a hundred million miles from Earth, a lunchbox-sized instrument can reliably produce oxygen for a small tree. The current version of MOXIE is small by design to fit into the Perseverance rover and is made to run for short periods of time, starting and shutting down on each run, depending on the rover's exploration schedule and mission responsibilities. This situation creates thermal stress that can disrupt the system over time. The fact that MOXIE can run successfully despite repeated switching on and off shows that it can do so for thousands of hours when converted into a full-scale system designed to run continuously.

Researchers think that an enlarged version of MOXIE could be sent to Mars, capable of continuously producing oxygen at the rate of several hundred trees, prior to human settlement or human dispatch. It is also stated that in order to send a manned research team to Mars in the future, the system should both produce enough oxygen to keep people alive when they arrive and provide fuel to the rocket to return the astronauts to Earth. Results so far show that MOXIE is a promising first step towards this goal. MOXIE's oxygen production on Mars also represents the first example of "in situ sourcing", the idea of ​​collecting and using a planet's materials to make resources that need to be transported from Earth.

It is also known that the atmosphere of Mars is much more variable than that of the Earth, the density of the air can change twice throughout the year and the temperatures can change by 100 degrees. For this reason, one of the future goals of MOXIE is to be able to produce oxygen in every season, and the data show that this can be achieved. This first on-site resource use study, carried out with the help of Mars' facilities and human-made technological devices, is perhaps a valuable and great step for the continuation of life. Let's see how we will draw the future of our world and Mars.

Sources:
https://news.mit.edu/2022/moxie-oxygen-mars-0831#:~:text=The%20MIT%2Dled%20Mars%20Oxygen,rover%20and%20Mars%202020%20mission.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abp8636
https://bilimgenc.tubitak.gov.tr/makale/marsta-oksijen-uretimi