Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE):
Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) has produced the 1st instance of the utilisation of resources in a planet’s atmosphere to meet human needs
About MOXIE:
- It was sent by NASA on the Perseverence and made by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
- It works like a tree, splitting carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere to produce pure oxygen.
- The instrument produced 6 grams of oxygen per hour, similar to a moderate-sized tree.
- Inside Moxie, Martian air is first filtered in and pressurised.
- “It is then sent through the Solid OXide Electrolyzer (SOXE), which electrochemically splits the carbon dioxide-rich air into oxygen ions and carbon monoxide.
- The oxygen ions are isolated and recombined to form breathable, molecular oxygen (O2).