NASA’s Perseverance rover has achieved an incredible feat on Mars – producing enough oxygen to sustain a small dog for 10 hours! This groundbreaking accomplishment was made possible by the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE), which was brought along by the rover when it landed on Mars in February 2021.
Since then, MOXIE has successfully generated oxygen 16 times, surpassing NASA’s expectations. In fact, it produced 12 grams (0.4 ounces) of oxygen per hour at its most efficient, twice as much as initially anticipated. The oxygen produced also boasted an impressive purity level of 98 percent or higher.
In a press release, NASA revealed that the total 122 grams (4.3 ounces) of oxygen produced by MOXIE would be sufficient to keep a small dog alive for 10 hours. To put it into perspective, humans require approximately 840 grams (30 ounces) of oxygen per day to survive. This means that the oxygen generated by the rover would sustain an astronaut for just under 3 and a half hours.
NASA’s Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy expressed her excitement about MOXIE’s success, stating, “MOXIE’s impressive performance shows that it is feasible to extract oxygen from Mars’ atmosphere – oxygen that could help supply breathable air or rocket propellant to future astronauts. Developing technologies that let us use resources on the Moon and Mars is critical to build a long-term lunar presence, create a robust lunar economy, and allow us to support an initial human exploration campaign to Mars.”
While this achievement is undoubtedly remarkable, NASA emphasizes that producing “industrial quantities” of propellant will be necessary for future missions beyond Mars. The ability to generate our own oxygen on other planets is crucial for these endeavors.
The team behind MOXIE plans to further refine the technology and explore methods for liquefying and storing the oxygen it produces. Perhaps one day, when we fulfill the sci-fi dreams of traveling to Mars for our holidays, we won’t have to worry about packing our own air.
