Do-it-yourself oxygen
Among the seven instruments on board the Perseverance rover is MOXIE, an incredible device that takes carbon dioxide out of the Martian atmosphere and turns it into oxygen.
If MOXIE works the way that scientists hope it will, future astronauts will not only make their own oxygen; they could use it as a component in the rocket fuel they’ll need to fly back to Earth. The more oxygen people are able to make on Mars, the less they’ll need to bring from Earth – and the easier it becomes for visitors to go there. But even with “homegrown” oxygen, astronauts will still need a spacesuit.
Right now, NASA is working on the new technologies needed to send humans to Mars. That could happen in the next decade, perhaps sometime during the late 2030s. By then, you’ll be an adult – and maybe one of the first to take a step on Mars.
See what a human mission to Mars would be like.
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Phylindia Gant, Ph.D. Student in Geological Sciences, University of Florida and Amy J. Williams, Assistant Professor of Geology, University of Florida
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