Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE)-Preparing for human Mars exploration - PubMed (original) (raw)

. 2022 Sep 2;8(35):eabp8636.

doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abp8636. Epub 2022 Aug 31.

Michael H Hecht 2, Donald Rapp 3, Joseph J Hartvigsen 4, Jason G SooHoo 2, Asad M Aboobaker 5, John B McClean 2, Andrew M Liu 1, Eric D Hinterman 1, Maya Nasr 1, Shravan Hariharan 1, Kyle J Horn 1, Forrest E Meyen 6, Harald Okkels 7, Parker Steen 2, Singaravelu Elangovan 4, Christopher R Graves 8, Piyush Khopkar 9, Morten B Madsen 7, Gerald E Voecks 10, Peter H Smith 11, Theis L Skafte 8, Koorosh R Araghi 12, David J Eisenman 5

Affiliations

Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE)-Preparing for human Mars exploration

Jeffrey A Hoffman et al. Sci Adv. 2022.

Abstract

MOXIE [Mars Oxygen In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Experiment] is the first demonstration of ISRU on another planet, producing oxygen by solid oxide electrolysis of carbon dioxide in the martian atmosphere. A scaled-up MOXIE would contribute to sustainable human exploration of Mars by producing on-site the tens of tons of oxygen required for a rocket to transport astronauts off the surface of Mars, instead of having to launch hundreds of tons of material from Earth's surface to transport the required oxygen to Mars. MOXIE has produced oxygen seven times between landing in February 2021 and the end of 2021 and will continue to demonstrate oxygen production during night and day throughout all martian seasons. This paper reviews what MOXIE has accomplished and the implications for larger-scale oxygen-producing systems.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1.. MOXIE with the front cover removed, showing compressor and SOXE assemblies.

The inlet filter, sensor and flow control panel, and electronics are not shown. The dimensions of the MOXIE chassis are 23.9 cm by 23.9 cm by 30.9 cm.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2.. Diurnal maximum (nighttime) and minimum (daytime) atmospheric density predicted (13) at the Perseverance landing site, Jezero crater, over one Mars year (668 sols).

The circles show MOXIE runs completed in 2021, FM OC9 to OC15. The star shows the anticipated MOXIE run during the annual maximum atmospheric density.

Fig. 3.

Fig. 3.. Nernst potentials for oxygen and carbon formation versus input mass flow for several rates of oxygen production at an operating temperature of 800°C.

The two circles and the vertical line show reference segment conditions of 55 g/hour of intake and 6 g/hour of oxygen production. The dark arrows show the safe voltage zone for oxygen production, with no coking under these conditions. The vertical error bar reflects the effect of uncertainty in the lead resistance (see in the “Diagnostic runs” section) on the voltage applied to the cells. The horizontal error bar shows the uncertainty in determining the mass flow rate.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 4.. Measured oxygen purity as a function of the nominal pressure difference between cathode and anode, normalized by the anode pressure (FM OC13).

The x axis is determined by the measured differential exhaust pressure, which is smaller than the actual SOXE pressure. The gray area represents the range between the best fit to the composition data (higher purity) and a more physically reasonable model (lower purity). Note that other MOXIE runs were operated at even higher values of Δ_P_/_P_AEx but were not part of this focused diagnostic.

Fig. 5.

Fig. 5.. MOXIE’s iASR is seen to increase slowly with operating cycles.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Hecht M., Hoffman J., Rapp D., McClean J., SooHoo J., Schaefer R., Aboobaker A., Mellstrom J., Hartvigsen J., Meyen F., Hinterman E., Voecks G., Liu A., Nasr M., Lewis J., Johnson J., Guernsey C., Swoboda J., Eckert C., Alcalde C., Poirier M., Khopkar P., Elangovan S., Madsen M., Smith P., Graves C., Sanders G., Araghi K., de la Torre Juarez M., Larsen D., Agui J., Burns A., Lackner K., Nielsen R., Pike T., Tata B., Wilson K., Brown T., Disarro T., Morris R., Schaefer R., Steinkraus R., Surampudi R., Werne T., Ponce A., Mars oxygen ISRU experiment (MOXIE). Space Sci. Rev. 217, 9 (2021).
    1. R. Zubrin, in The Case for Mars (Simon & Schuster, 1996), pp. 16, 157, 165.
    1. Ash R. L., Dowler W. L., Varsi G., Feasibility of rocket propellant production on Mars. Acta Astronaut. 5, 705–724 (1978).
    1. J. B. Sanders, D. I. Kaplan, Mars ISPP Precursor (MIP): The first flight demonstration of in-situ propellant production, in Proceedings of the 34th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit, Cleveland, OH, USA, 13 to 15 July 1998 (AIAA, 1998), p. 3306.
    1. B. G. Drake, Human Exploration of Mars: Design Reference Architecture 5.0 (N.J.S. Center, NASA, 2009).

LinkOut - more resources