NASA's MOXIE success: Mars oxygen experiment clears path for human exploration

MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-situ Resource Utilization Experiment) is lowered into the chassis of NASA’s Perseverance in 2019. During the mission, MOXIE extracted oxygen from the Martian atmosphere 16 times, testing a way that future astronauts could make rocket propellant that would launch them back to Earth. (Image source: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

NASA's MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment) has successfully completed its mission, marking a significant milestone in paving the way for human exploration of Mars. The American Space Agency announced this achievement on September 6.

This accomplishment opens the door for astronauts to potentially land on Mars in the near future, as it enables them to produce oxygen from the Martian atmosphere. This oxygen can be used for both fuel and breathing purposes, according to NASA.

"When the first astronauts land on Mars, they may have the descendants of a microwave-oven-size device to thank for the air they breathe and the rocket propellant that gets them home," NASA stated.

“MOXIE’s impressive performance shows that it is feasible to extract oxygen from Mars’ atmosphere – oxygen that could help supply breathable air or rocket propellant to future astronauts,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy in her statement. “Developing technologies that let us use resources on the Moon and Mars is critical to building a long-term lunar presence, creating a robust lunar economy, and allowing us to support an initial human exploration campaign to Mars,” Melroy added.

MOXIE, which was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has successfully generated oxygen for the 16th and final time while onboard the Perseverance rover, which first landed on Mars in February 2021, NASA stated.

According to NASA's statement, MOXIE, since its arrival in February 2021 on Mars, has conducted 16 oxygen-producing sessions, generating a total of 122 grams of oxygen. The instrument produced 9.8 grams of oxygen during its most recent run on August 7.

MOXIE ran under a variety of circumstances for the duration of a full Mars year, the statement further noted.

NASA has stressed the importance of having an ample supply of rocket fuel for launching rockets carrying astronauts on their return trip from Mars. The agency mentioned that future astronauts could rely on resources available on the planet's surface for their life support rather than transporting large amounts of oxygen from Earth to Mars. In-situ resource utilization (ISRU), a concept related to this one, is a growing area of study, the space agency noted.

NASA's next goal in this area is to create a complete system that includes a MOXIE-like oxygen generator as well as a way to liquefy and store the generated oxygen.