The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has indicated a goal to develop a futuristic device that would allow humanity to breathe oxygen on Mars as part of its Mars project. This project is part of the agency's Innovative Advanced Concepts initiative.
According to the most recent source, NASA has granted the go signal for early-stage financing of this technology. It would also include the optimal designs for spacesuits suitable for life in space.
NASA Gives Green Light For Oxygen Generator on Mars
The international space agency is working on a technique that will convert the air on Mars into breathing air. This revelation seems like something out of a science fiction novel, yet it's genuinely happening.
NASA planned to develop a portable oxygen generator based on a process known as thermal sorption/desorption (TSSD), according to BGR. This would aid in producing air similar to that which humans breathe on Earth but on a foreign planet.
In reality, the thin air in the region is unsuitable for humans, which is why scientists have considered the potential of manufacturing breathing air on Mars. It would give them more chances to figure out how it may be done in the future.
If all goes according to plan, future technology will be able to help astronauts in their space travel. It would also allow scientists to stay on the planet for longer periods.
Furthermore, suppose NASA is successful in completing this project. In that case, humankind may one day relocate to Mars and live as if they were on Earth.
"NASA's mission to explore the universe requires new technologies and new ways of doing things. Studying these creative ideas is the first step to turn science fiction into science fact," NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate associate administrator Jim Reuter said in the official statement of JPL.
Mars MOXIE Automated System
Wired said NASA's MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment) Automated system is sufficient to provide people with oxygen because of the extraction procedure on Mars.
By that time, the process will have progressed to conduct electrolysis. A device is powered by an electrical current.
While it can give humans breathing air, it only lasts for around 10 to 15 minutes. As a result, NASA must ensure that oxygen and adequate rocket fuel are preserved during their journey or they should make a way to use the resources available. They aim to
Beth Lomax, a doctoral student at the University of Glasgow and a researcher at the ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, said it's necessary to utilize the resources available in space because it's not practical to consistently bring the materials needed from Earth.
"We have this huge gravitational well, and the amount of energy required to get that material into space is so massive," she added.
They want Moxie to eventually be an automated system that will produce breathable oxygen for the crew and be used for the return flight.
NASA has already approved several seemingly implausible innovations, apart from this oxygen generator. As a result, MIT astronomer Sara Seager outlined her plan for studying Venus in greater depth.
It is conceivable, she claims, to collect gas and cloud samples from Earth's neighbor. They could be transferred back to the planet for more experimentation later.
A notion for a Venusian spacecraft that will help researchers analyze the planet's atmosphere has also been proposed.
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