The Mars Oxygen In-situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover successfully extracted oxygen from the Martian atmosphere 16 times, testing a method for making fuel for future astronauts . This could allow astronauts to survive and leave Mars.
MOXIE, installed on Perseverance, succeeded in extracting oxygen from the Martian atmosphere.
MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-situ Resource Utilization Experiment), an instrument the size of a microwave oven, was installed in the chassis of NASA’s Perseverance in 2019. During the mission, MOXIE extracted l oxygen in the Martian atmosphere 16 times, testing a method that could allow future astronauts to produce the propellant needed to return them to Earth. Embedded aboard the Perseverance rover, the instrument demonstrated that it could be a viable technology for astronauts on Mars to produce oxygen for fuel and respiration.
