NASA Generates Oxygen on Mars, Setting Stage for Crewed Missions

[RV_]

I wondered what the deal was. Moxie a contraction or "Mars Oxygen generator" worked! Now they can generate enough Oxygen for workers and while working they will make enough Oxygen for the rocket to lift off.

However the byproduct is CO or Carbon Monoxide.

But this is exciting because terraforming and colonizing CAN be done!

Excerpt:

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has captured much of the world’s attention, but an amazing new experiment, in which the Perseverance rover produced a tiny amount of oxygen, is equally deserving of praise.

On April 20, the MOXIE device on Perseverance produced roughly 5 grams of oxygen. That’s a tiny step for NASA and its rover, but a potentially huge leap for humanity and our aspirations on Mars. This small amount of oxygen—extracted from the carbon dioxide-rich Martian atmosphere—is only enough to sustain an astronaut for about five minutes, but it’s the principle of the experiment that matters. This technology demonstration shows that it’s possible to produce oxygen on Mars, a necessary requirement for sustainably working on and departing the Red Planet.

So while Ingenuity is the first human-built device to achieve powered flight on an alien world, MOXIE, or Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment, is the first human-built device to generate oxygen on another world. Both experiments are big deals, as both tests are bringing Mars closer to our reach."

A whole bunch more in the article with pics and links! Here: Moxie article

[Ray,IN]

So we're reducing CO emissions on earth, will be creating CO on Mars???

[folivier]

CO is different than CO2. Mars has a different environment than earth.

[Ray,IN]

14 hours ago, folivier said:

CO is different than CO2. Mars has a different environment than earth.

CO is carbon monoxide whatever the  planet. The article says the process generates CO.