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Perseverance Rover Made Oxygen on Mars

Agence France-Presse

   New feat to the credit of Perseverance: the NASA rover transformed
   carbon dioxide from Mars' atmosphere into oxygen, a first on another
   planet, the US space agency announced on Wednesday.

   "This is a crucial first attempt to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen
   on Mars," said Jim Reuter, an associate administrator at NASA.

   The demonstration took place on April 20 and NASA is hoping that future
   versions of the experimental tool used can pave the way for exploration
   by humans.

   Not only could the process produce oxygen for future astronauts to
   breathe, it could also prevent the large amounts of oxygen needed to
   propel the rocket on the return trip from Earth.

   The Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (Moxie) is a
   golden box the size of a car battery, located at the front right of the
   rover.

   It uses electricity and chemistry to split CO2 molecules, producing
   oxygen on one side and carbon monoxide on the other.

   For his first experiment, Moxie produced 5 grams of oxygen, enough to
   breathe for 10 minutes for an astronaut with normal activity.

   The engineers in charge of Moxie will now conduct more tests and try to
   increase this result. The tool has been developed to be able to
   generate up to 10 grams of oxygen per hour.

   Designed at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology
   (MIT), Moxie was manufactured with heat-resistant materials to tolerate
   the scorching temperatures of 800 degrees Celsius required for its
   operation.

   A thin layer of gold prevents it from radiating this heat and damaging
   the rover.

   According to MIT engineer Michael Hecht, a one-ton Moxie - this weighs
   17 kilograms - could produce the roughly 25 tons of oxygen needed for a
   rocket to take off from Mars. may be easier than extracting ice from
   beneath its surface to make oxygen by electrolysis.

   Perseverance landed on the Red Planet on February 18. Its mission: to
   look for traces of ancient life.