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Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE)

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).