The Mars exploration in the future found a new ally through an innovation by researchers and scientists that developed a new way to transform carbon dioxide into oxygen, fuel, and more via plasma ignition. In-situ resource utilization using plasma is the new method that researchers are looking into, for future missions for the Red Planet.
Mars: Plasma In-Situ Resource Utilization for Oxygen and MORE
(Photo : by Nicolas Lobos on Unsplash)
A research published in the Journal of Applied Physics entitled "Plasmas for in situ resource utilization on Mars: Fuels, life support, and agriculture" talks about creating resources out of carbon dioxide for future Mars missions.
The technology aims to deliver on utilizing plasma ignition for extracting different materials like oxygen and fuel on Mars, as it is favorable to use in the pressure present on the Red Planet.
The team composed of researchers from the University of Lisbon, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sorbonne University, Eindhoven University of Technology, and the Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research all joined forces for this venture.
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Is the Technology Viable for Mars in Future Missions?
According to SciTechDaily, researchers claimed that there are two challenges to extracting what they need on Mars.
One is the decomposition of carbon dioxide molecules to extract oxygen that would help in getting the material from the abundant resource on the planet.
Next is the separation of produced oxygen that may also contain carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. The researchers claim that plasma would help in this venture and is beneficial to answering both challenges for future use.
Mars and the Future Missions Set for the Planet
There are many on-site resource utilization projects that researchers are coming up with for Mars, and the groups aim to give future crewmembers a chance to create something out of nothing on the planet. It is important to note that there are not a lot of materials on Mars and this would be a significant challenge once space crews step foot on the new frontier.
Mars holds massive phenomena on the planet for its many unknown objects available there, and while researchers are still figuring them out for future of space missions to the planet, it would also play a significant role once humans arrive there.
Soon, Mars may be a place where humans may live and create civilizations, with different studies looking into its habitable state before it establishes a colony.
Researchers now are aiming to deliver on ways for sustainable life on Mars, and it will be beneficial to the astronauts that would first arrive on the planet for its exploration. Nevertheless, developments like these are welcome for their contributions to giving more for future humans to arrive on the planet for their survival and life there.
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Written by Isaiah Richard
