NASA plans to build a base on the moon before sending humans to Mars to reduce the process of reaching Mars. SpaceX founder Elon Musk wants to name the race to Mars as his own. In addition, European and Russian space agencies also talk about sending humans to Mars. But how will humans live there after the Earth? Because unlike the Earth, oxygen is not the biggest need of life on Mars. What is NASA’s way of producing oxygen on Mars? And why can’t the International Space Station produce oxygen in the way it does on Mars? Welcome to the channel.
There are many reasons behind the human desire to live on Mars, which include the factor of scientific exploration and space curiosity, but there is also a compulsion or fear among these desires. That is, the generation of humans may not end due to a disaster on Earth, as 6.5 billion years ago, the extinction of dinosaurs from our world. dinosaurs were extinct. And it is also possible that we are seeing an example of climate change on Earth. This is probably the biggest reason that in the coming time, someone or the other will become the blue Armstrong of Mars. On one hand, Elon Musk had intended to colonize Mars in 2026, but now a prediction of 2029.
On the other hand, NASA has also planned to land humans on Mars by 2030. But the question is not who will go to Mars first, the question is how humans will be able to live after going to Mars. Of course, many properties of Mars are similar to Earth. Like a day of Mars, which is also called Martian Day or Sol, its length is only 39 minutes long. There are different weather conditions and on Earth as well. Besides, there are ice caps on Earth’s poles and on Mars’ poles as well. There is atmosphere on Earth even though Mars is thin but there is atmosphere. But one thing which is not enough for humans to live on Mars is oxygen. So, how will oxygen gas be produced on Mars is not for a few people, but to keep a whole colony of Mars inhabited.
When it comes to keeping humans alive in extreme situations, the first thing that comes to mind is ISS, that is, International Space Station. It has been 25 years since it has been in harsh space conditions and it has been continuously providing oxygen and fresh water to humans. There are 4 to 5 astronauts present at the International Space Station at all times, whose daily requirement of water is at least 45 litres, that is, 1350 litres per month and 16,200 litres per year. In addition, 1,000 kg of oxygen gas is used annually. How is so much water and oxygen made in space 400 km away from the Earth? For this purpose, there are two systems in ISS. One is Water Reclamation System WRS and the other is Oxygen Generation System OGS. To understand why we cannot use these two systems on Mars, we must first know how this system works.
The Water Reclamation System collects water from human waste, i.e. urine, sweat and humidity, and then cleans it and makes it drinkable again. Astronaut Douglas V. Locke said on one occasion that our coffee of tomorrow becomes the coffee of the next day. WRS system purifies the water in the ISS and makes it usable again. And this way 98% of the water is saved from being wasted. Next to it is the Oxygen Generation System. This system takes a little water from the WRS and then makes it oxygen to breathe through a special process. We had studied this simple process in 5th class, which is called Electrolysis. Electrical current is passed through water, which converts water into Oxygen gas and Hydrogen gas. Oxygen gas is used to breathe, but Hydrogen is a very dangerous and inflammable gas, which can burn the entire ISS in seconds and make a fireball. This hydrogen gas is not wasted, but it is put in another system, which is called the sub-attier system.
This system collects the waste carbon dioxide of the astronauts in the ISS, mixes it with hydrogen gas, and makes water, methane gas, and a little heat from it. The water is reused, the heat is put in the heat management system, but the methane gas, which is very important to the earth, is removed from the ISS into space. Methane gas, which is also a kind of fuel, can also produce energy and heat, but it is wasted because it needs oxygen to burn and the ISS has oxygen, which is the most important component. If we look at the entire process of oxygen and water in the ISS, it depends on refueling missions. Although they are 98% efficient, there are still losses and leakages in every system. This is why every 6 months or year, water and oxygen are brought from the ground and is put into the ISS. These refueling missions are very costly, in which the cost of delivering just one liter of water to the ISS at an altitude of 400 kilometers is more than $2,500. Therefore, making oxygen on Mars at a distance of 22.5 billion kilometers in this way is not effective. For this, a system must be created that uses the resources on Mars and makes oxygen from it. In 2021, a device was installed for this experiment in the NASA Perseverance rover sent to Mars, which is called the MOXIE, i.e. Mars Oxygen In-Situ Experiment.
Because in ISS, the water source is refueling, but to find water on Mars, you have to go to its polar caps or drill a few feet below to remove the ice. This is why MOXIE uses carbon dioxide from the atmosphere of Mars to make oxygen. In simple words, 95% of the atmosphere of Mars is carbon dioxide. Moxie pumps carbon dioxide from the outside atmosphere and pressurizes it and then puts it in an electrolyzer and heats it at 800 degrees Celsius. This separates the oxygen gas from the carbon dioxide. This electrolyzer is made of gold because gold is an excellent heat conductor which protects the other parts of the Perseverance from heat. In this process, carbon dioxide produces not only oxygen gas but also carbon monoxide. The disadvantage of this process is that if the carbon is completely separated, it can also form a single layer of carbon, as seen below the cooking pan. And this layer will not delay in reaching the human. This is why this process is performed with great caution. But how much oxygen does MOXIE produce at a time on Mars? In this process, MOXIE needs a lot of energy. That’s why NASA only runs it occasionally when energy is saved from the solar panels. So far, it has only produced 122 grams of oxygen, which can keep a human alive for only 3.5 hours.
If we have to produce more oxygen on Mars through this system, then we need a bigger version of MOXIE and a bigger power plant to run it. And this is the biggest challenge so far. Now, here it is important to understand that MOXIE first compresses carbon dioxide with the help of a compressor and then heats it up to 800 degrees Celsius. A lot of energy is required for both these processes. Scientists are working on a future technology to solve this problem, in which CO2 molecules can be broken down at low temperatures. by heating the dioxide, but by generating vibrations in it and separating the oxygen molecule from it. Currently, this technology has been tested in the lab, but due to the high atmospheric pressure and temperature of the Earth, it is not possible to do this experiment on Earth. But the atmosphere of Mars is perfect for this task. Whatever the technology, our target is to use it on Mars to create oxygen that is present there. And the device that will create oxygen, its dependency should not be on Earth. Because ISS is only 400 km away from Earth. If the oxygen generation system there is damaged, then sending astronauts back to Earth. They can wear their emergency suits and wait for a few hours for refueling and can go back to Earth. But if after colonization on Mars there is any problem in the oxygen generation machine then there will be no option of refueling and it will not be so easy to go back to Earth.
