Throughout 2021, a machine NASA sent to Mars with its 2020 Perseverance rover — called the Mars Oxygen In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Experiment (MOXIE) — created.
Forward-looking: Oxygen will be an essential element of any crewed Mars mission. Producing it on the red planet could be far more efficient than shipping it from Earth, and recent NASA experiments suggest the idea is viable. The oxygen is mostly for fuel rather than breathing.
Throughout 2021, a machine NASA sent to Mars with its 2020 Perseverance rover — called the Mars Oxygen In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Experiment created around 50 grams of oxygen from the planet’s mostly Carbon Dioxide atmosphere. A recent MIT research paper explains how a lunchbox-sized machine successfully produced oxygen on Mars and how researchers could enlarge its operations. The experiment is an initial step toward sustainable human Mars exploration.
