History has ben made after oxygen was created on Mars for the first time.
The oxygen was created by the 'Perseverance' rover which landed on Mars earlier this year and was achieved using a tool called MOXIE.
MOXIE uses a gold box-shaped tool equipped with electrolysis technology that produces oxygen by converting carbon dioxide. Mars' thin atmosphere is 95% composed of carbon-dioxide.
In the first experiment, MOXIE created 5.4 grams of oxygen per hour but is capable of producing over double that in perfect circumstances.
Astronauts, on average, require over 800 grams of oxygen per-day.
What this experiment shows is that oxygen can be created on Mars and that this could help maintain life on the planet. It also means that oxygen can be produced to use as rocket-fuel, meaning that astronauts wouldn't have to carry so much oxygen on their initial journey.
MOXIE's principal investigator, Michael Hecht, told reporters:
"To burn its fuel, a rocket must have many times more oxygen by weight. To get four astronauts off the Martian surface on a future mission would require 15,000 pounds of rocket fuel and 55,000 pounds of oxygen. The astronauts who spend a year on the surface will maybe use [2,200 pounds] between them to breathe."
Jeffrey Hoffman, a Professor of the practice in the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, added:
"The first run of MOXIE is a step in the right direction to bring us closer to the possibility of human missions to Mars. The technology that evolves from what we have been able to do here will be the grandchildren descended from the success of our MOXIE instrument."
Perseverance already made history last week when it launched the first-ever successful helicopter flight on an alien planet. The small helicopter only flew for a few moments, but it was enough to show that helicopter travel was possible on the red planet and opens the possibility of much more advanced transport systems in the future.
The Perseverance rover was sent to Mars in order to carry out experiments such as this and search for signs of prehistoric life that scientists think may have inhabited the planet many millions of years ago.
[h/t: Daily Mail]
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