Perseverance transformed Martian atmosphere into genuine oxygen.

Unlike on Earth, where breathable oxygen makes up approximately 21% of the atmosphere, the atmosphere of Mars is made up primarily of unbreathable carbon dioxide, reaching concentrations of 96%. Oxygen, meanwhile, only accounts for around 0.13% of Martian air. This, among many other reasons, is why humanity can’t live on Mars. However, in addition to its myriad of searches and experiments, NASA’s Mars rover, Perseverance, may have finally set us on a course to fixing this conundrum.

Earlier this week, Perseverance deployed another one of its experimental devices: “Moxie,” or “Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment.” Approximately the size of a household toaster, Moxie is almost like a mechanical approximation of how plant life converts carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen. By taking in carbon dioxide molecules, Moxie strips out the single carbon monoxide atom, leaving behind two atoms of oxygen. So far, this process has produced roughly five grams of oxygen, which would allow a hypothetical astronaut to breathe normally for about ten minutes.

“Moxie isn’t just the first instrument to produce oxygen on another world, it’s the first technology of its kind that will help future missions ‘live off the land’, using elements of another world’s environment, also known as in-situ resource utilization,” said Trudy Kortes, director of technology demonstrations within Nasa’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.

“It’s taking regolith, the substance you find on the ground, and putting it through a processing plant, making it into a large structure, or taking carbon dioxide – the bulk of the atmosphere – and converting it into oxygen. This process allows us to convert these abundant materials into useable things: propellant, breathable air, or, combined with hydrogen, water.”

A renewable source of oxygen would be an absolute game-changer for space expeditions of the future; not only would it benefit astronauts, it could also be used to manufacture emergency rocket fuel. NASA will be testing Moxie’s various settings to determine how quickly and efficiently it can generate clean air.