Tech Briefs Magazine - November 2023 - 50

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50
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ogy like MOXIE that could turn local resources into useful
products for future exploration missions, " said Trudy Kortes,
Director of Technology demonstrations, Space Technology
Mission Directorate (STMD) at NASA Headquarters in
Washington, which funds the MOXIE demonstration. " By
proving this technology in real-world conditions, we've come
one step closer to a future in which astronauts 'live off the
land' on the Red Planet. "
MOXIE produces molecular oxygen through an electrochemical
process that separates one oxygen atom from each
molecule of carbon dioxide pumped in from Mars' thin atmosphere.
As these gases flow through the system, they're analyzed
to check the purity and quantity of the oxygen produced.
While many of Perseverance's experiments are addressing
the mission's primary science goals, MOXIE was focused on
future human exploration. MOXIE served as the first-ever
demonstration of technology that humans could use to survive
on, and leave, the Red Planet. An oxygen-producing system
could help future missions in various ways, but the most
important of them would be as a source of rocket propellant,
which would be required in industrial quantities to
launch rockets with astronauts for their return trip home.
Rather than bringing large quantities of oxygen with them to
Mars, future astronauts could live off the land, using materials
they find on the planet's surface to survive. This concept called
in-situ resource utilization, or ISRU, has evolved into a growing
area of research.
" MOXIE has clearly served as inspiration to the ISRU community, "
said the instrument's Principal Investigator, Michael
Hecht of MIT. " It showed NASA is willing to invest in these
kinds of future technologies. And it has been a flagship that has
influenced the exciting industry of space resources. "
The next step wouldn't be building MOXIE 2.0 - although
Hecht and his team have learned a lot about how to
design a more efficient version of the instrument. Rather, it
would be to create a full-scale system that includes an oxygen
generator like MOXIE and a way to liquefy and store
that oxygen.
But more than anything, Hecht would like to see other technologies
get their turn on Mars. " We have to make decisions
about which things need to be validated on Mars, " Hecht said.
" I think there are many technologies on that list; I'm very
pleased MOXIE was first. "
A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology,
including the search for signs of ancient microbial life.
The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate,
pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet,
and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and
regolith (broken rock and dust).
Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European
Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect
these sealed samples from the surface and return them to
Earth for in-depth analysis.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon
to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions
to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration
of the Red Planet.
This article was contributed by NASA/JPL. For more information,
contact Andrew Good, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena,
CA) at andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov; 818-393-2433.
www.techbriefs.com
Tech Briefs, November 2023
http://www.techbriefs.com/tv/data-connectors http://www.techbriefs.com/tv/nasa-supercomputer http://www.techbriefs.com/tv/semiconductor-ecosystem http://www.techbriefs.com/tv/tte-vulnerability http://www.techbriefs.tv http://www.techbriefs.com
Tech Briefs Magazine - November 2023

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