![]() ![]() to get something by pulling it out, forcing it out, etc. a flight by an aircraft or spacecraft to perform a specific taskĮxtract – v. John Russell adapted it for Learning English. Steve Gorman reported on this story for Reuters. Perseverance’s main mission is to search for signs of ancient microbes that may have lived on Mars billions of years ago. ![]() The spacecraft has six wheels so it can move across the planet’s surface. Like MOXIE, the helicopter, named Ingenuity, rode to Mars with Perseverance. The very small robot helicopter was able to launch from and land on the surface of Mars. The first oxygen extraction came one day after NASA carried out the first controlled, powered flight of an aircraft on another planet. Scientists plan to run the machine at least nine other times over the next two years under different conditions. MOXIE is designed to produce up to 10 grams of oxygen in an hour. Large amounts of oxygen are needed to launch rockets into space from Mars.Īstronauts living and working on Mars would require possibly one metric ton of oxygen to last one year, Hecht added. MOXIE lead investigator Michael Hecht said in NASA's news release that transporting a one-ton oxygen-conversion machine to Mars is easier than trying to take tons of oxygen from Earth. It is necessary for astronauts to breathe and for rocket fuel. But a large supply of it is important for human exploration there. Oxygen exists on Mars in very small amounts. The rest is mainly molecular nitrogen and argon. The instrument works through electrolysis: a process which uses extreme heat to separate oxygen atoms from molecules of carbon dioxide.Ĭarbon dioxide makes up about 95 percent of the Martian atmosphere. In a statement, she called MOXIE the first technology of its kind to help future missions "live off the land" of another planet. Trudy Kortes is director of technology demonstrations within NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate. That amount would permit an astronaut to breathe for about 10 minutes, NASA said.Īlthough the amount of oxygen was small, it marked the first experimental extraction of a natural resource from the environment of another planet. The experimental device is called MOXIE, short for Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment. NASA announced the experiment on Wednesday. It was the second major event during the Perseverance mission to Mars. “This process allows us to convert these abundant materials into useable things: propellant, breathable air, or, combined with hydrogen, water.The American space agency NASA has collected oxygen from the atmosphere of another planet for the first time.Ī device on NASA’s Mars explorer Perseverance was able to extract oxygen from carbon dioxide on the Red Planet. “It’s taking regolith, the substance you find on the ground, and putting it through a processing plant, making it into a large structure, or taking carbon dioxide-the bulk of the atmosphere-and converting it into oxygen,” she said. ![]() RELATED: NASA Confirmation: Earth is Safe From Asteroid for 100 Years It’s the first technology of its kind that will help future missions “live off the land,” using elements of another world’s environment, also known as in-situ resource utilization. ![]() “MOXIE isn’t just the first instrument to produce oxygen on another world,” said Trudy Kortes of NASA. MOXIE is expected to extract oxygen at least nine more times over the course of a Martian year (nearly two years on Earth). This technology demonstration was designed to ensure the instrument survived the launch from Earth, a nearly seven-month journey through deep space. MOXIE is designed to generate up to 10 grams of oxygen per hour. In this first operation, MOXIE’s oxygen production was quite modest-about 5 grams, equivalent to about 10 minutes worth of breathable oxygen for an astronaut. A thin gold coating on the outside of MOXIE reflects infrared heat, keeping it from radiating outward and potentially damaging other parts of Perseverance. Washington US, April 22 (ANI): The growing list of 'firsts' for Perseverance, NASAs newest six-wheeled robot on the Martian surface, includes converting some of the Red Planets thin, carbon. These include 3D-printed nickel alloy parts, which heat and cool the gases flowing through it, and a lightweight aerogel that helps hold in the heat. To accommodate this, the MOXIE unit is made with heat-tolerant materials. The conversion process requires high levels of heat to reach a temperature of approximately 1,470 degrees Fahrenheit (800 Celsius). ![]()
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