Making Oxygen on Mars - NASA’s Breakthrough EXPLAINED

Can we terraform Mars? NASA’s Perseverance Rover and their trusty sidekick MOXIE have just taken a huge step in proving it is possible. I want to take a look at the tech behind this breakthrough and understand if humans could ever live on Mars…

00:00 NASA Makes Oxygen on Mars for the First Time
00:50 How Will We Breathe On Mars?
1:34 Level 1 - Take an Atmosphere With You
2:38 Level 2 - Atmosphere recycling - The ISS and it's life support systems
6:58 Level 3 - The Perseverance Rover & MOXIE - Creating oxygen from the Martian atmosphere
10:08 The drawbacks of MOXIE
10:55 The future of oxygen generation on Mars - Lower temperature plasmas
14:00 Conclusion

#science #physics #spaceexploration #nasa #breakthrough #mars

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[FlesHBoX]

I love that this demonstrates how some technologies that are simply not really viable outside of scientific study on Earth, would be life changing on another planet.

[FlesHBoX]

For anyone having trouble getting over drinking recycled water that used to be pee, just remember, ALL water on Earth is recycled water that used to be pee.

[leoismaking]

So we need a machine that turns carbon dioxide into oxygen. So a plant. We need to make an artificial plant.

[CarFreeSegnitz]

3:28 “…so long as you can psychologically get past that it’s almost all recycled urine…” Well, yes, Earth’s water has been recycled innumerable times. Every glass if water you drink has some component of water that has passed through Napoleon and a t.rex. Only a minuscule amount of water is truly virgin,

[rayoflight]

Thank you Prof. Miles, it is actually the first time I see a proper explanation of the Moxie device installed on the Perseverance Rover.
Greetings,
Anthony

[oldbloke]

Anyone who plays the "Surviving Mars" computer game soon realizes that the least stressful way of surviving Mars is to take no people until the place is built up by the machines like a massive holiday resort. Not having to worry about people freezing to death, dying of thirst, suffocating, or just going insane is a big weight off your mind.

[lloydevans]

Those chemical oxygen generators (also known as oxygen candles) are also used on submarines and on aircraft as emergency oxygen supplies. Submarines get most of their oxygen from electrolysis, usually having a pair of electrolysers - one is actually enough most of the time, but they have two as a backup. The oxygen generators are only used if the electrolyser sources are offline for whatever reason. They are also quite dangerous, partially because they get so hot in operation but also because the sodium chlorate is a powerful oxidiser. They are basically big sparklers - the mix contains just enough iron powder to sustain the combustion and generate enough heat to decompose the excess sodium chlorate into oxygen. The other danger comes from accidental contamination - there have been several incidents where one of these oxygen candles got contaminated with oil or grease, and then subsequently detonating when ignited, killing several unfortunate submariners.

The same devices are used as the emergency oxygen generators on commercial aircraft: If cabin pressure is lost during a flight and those oxygen masks drop from the panels above your seat, this is where the oxygen comes from - when you pull on the mask, the string pulls the trigger on the igniter which starts the oxygen flow. The reason these are used is because they are much lighter weight than compressed oxygen cylinders, which is an important consideration for aircraft. They typically produce oxygen for about 20 minutes, which is enough time for the pilots to take the plane down to an altitude where extra oxygen isn't needed any more.
There was a quite famous (or infamous) incident where a plane was transporting a load of oxygen generators to be decommissioned in the forward cargo compartment. They were supposed to have been deactivated (by removing the ignition triggers) but whoever was supposed to do that forgot to. One of them ignited and set off a chain reaction, igniting most of the rest and filling the cargo compartment with oxygen, causing an intense fire in flight. The fire burned through the avionics bay above the compartment and caused the plane to crash - but the pilots didn't think it could have been a fire at the time since a fire in a cargo compartment at altitude should not have been possible - it was only the boosted oxygen level from the oxygen generators which made it possible. This was only worked out retrospectively after the crash, and was one of the weirdest crash investigations ever done.

[truthsayer]

The Martian atmosphere may be 95% CO2 but the atmosphere is very thin, meaning 95% doesn’t equate to a lot in a thin atmosphere. Two large, mature trees can provide enough oxygen from CO2 to provide for a family of four but you’d have to water them, keep them in a warm environment and capture the oxygen somehow.

[davidsirmons]

Doesn't matter how NASA tries to make oxygen on mars. Mars lacks enough gravity to keep a meaningful layer of atmosphere, constantly losing it to space literally, when combined with the lack of a protective magnetic field from its mostly dead core. Its atmosphere is constantly being stripped away and would be like trying to fill a bucket with a hole in it.

[charlesblithfield]

In sci fi novels self sustaining suits are sometimes described. It’s intriguing to imagine the apotheosis of development of such a system - creating a level 3 synthetic micro techno-biosphere bubble around a person that recycles all waste products to sustain life. Is this even physically possible? It’s the food and nutrition aspect that is hardest for me to imagine.

[MiniLuv-]

Wow. Through the fog of time, I can now make out a self sustaining space suit (after we create tiny, but extremely energy dense power cells to power it on Mars). Thanks for the illumination good Doctor.

[mityaboy]

What i love about Mars is that during summer time even a thin atmosphere at that distance from the Sun could go up to 20C - which is quite a pleasant temp. (ignoring the pressure and composition issues) - which suggest that if the planet could hold onto a thicker atmosphere (magnetic field / gravity) - it could be a pleasant place in the solar system.

[noahblandford]

The MOXIE is amazing. My favorite part is the girl who designed it went to Michigan Tech and was from a rural town in Wisconsin. It gives me hope that I can do the same when I grow up!

[danielbirchfield]

just found this channel n subbed. i liked this video a lot. it felt like a full circle moment back when i was 12 watching science channels and barely understood a thing, now i understood everything you said.

[fraggzbN]

This is how we'll breathe on Mars: Hold your breath quite long.

[NivCalderon]

That's a great video. Super informative but more importantly it is fun to watch.

[marknasia]

have they figured out how to make a magnetic field my limited scientific mind tells me, atmosphere is a great plus, but the main thing that has to happen is a magnetic field or the Sun’s photons could rip any progress apart in as something as simple and regular as a solar flare. but then again i only stayed in a Holiday Inn express and have now graduated any degrees in astrophysics

[lincolnshumate]

At about 2:00 into the video, you said that that the oxygen is converted to CO2 until the oxygen levels are too support life. That is not what happens. The CO2 levels increases to a level that essentially poisons us to death.

“The rising level of carbon dioxide is what kills people first when they're in an airtight environment, not the level of oxygen, ” Dr. Dale Molé, the former director of undersea medicine and radiation health for the U.S. Navy, told The Daily Mail.

[AnarchoCatBoyEthan]

So what about plants? I’ve seen videos about photosynthesis and how they actually do it and end up making oxygen, but it’s very complicated. What exact mechanism do plants use and can we recreate that with technology or it is something that is probably only possible with biology? I know plants can’t live on mars lol in so many ways but i’m just thinking about this mechanically. Time to go relearn photosynthesis again, I guess. Good video!

[maxrockbin]

If you flip the thumbnail left to right, you could rename it "removing oxygen from earth" and the dates will still work