After a two-and-a-half-year mission, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has announced that Moxie operations are coming to an end.
Good will | Since the Perseverance rover landed on Mars in 2021, Moxie has produced a total of 122 grams of oxygen.
NASA’s Perseverance rover has reached several milestones since it landed on Mars two and a half years ago. In particular, this robotic vehicle collected samples of the Martian rock core and served as an important base for the Ingenuity helicopter. In addition, it also looks for signs of ancient microbial life and paves the way for human exploration of the red planet.
Regarding its operation, the mechanism is responsible for separating oxygen atoms from CO2 molecules and releasing them into the atmosphere of Mars. Although the process requires high temperatures, Moxie uses nickel alloy parts to heat up and maintain heat.
Recently, after a two-and-a-half-year mission, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) announced that Moxie operations are coming to an end.
Pam Melroy, deputy administrator of NASA, said that “Mixie’s impressive performance shows that it is possible to extract oxygen from the atmosphere of Mars.” Meanwhile, Trudy Kortes, director of technology demonstrations for the Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters, added that “Moxie will be able to convert local resources into useful products for future missions of exploration. “By testing this technology in real world conditions, we are one step closer to a future where astronauts can ‘live on land’ on the Red Planet.”
The importance of Perseverance
Since the Perseverance rover landed on Mars in 2021, Moxie has produced a total of 122 grams of oxygen, which is what a small dog breathes in ten hours. However, at its most efficient, Moxie produced twelve grams of oxygen per hour, double NASA’s original goal for the instrument, with a purity of 98%. In addition, MOXIE successfully completed all its technical requirements and operated in various conditions throughout the year on Mars.
Regarding Moxie’s future, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) explained on its official blog that “Moxie is focused on the future of human exploration, serving as the first demonstration of technology that humans can use to survive and will leave the Red Planet, and has become a growing area of research. In addition, it shows that NASA is willing to invest in these types of future technologies.
In the future, Michael Hecht of MIT and his team will develop a large-scale system that will include an oxygen generator similar to Moxie and a way to liquefy and store oxygen.
