Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment
The Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) was a technology demonstration on the NASA Mars 2020 rover Perseverance investigating the production of oxygen on Mars. On April 20, 2021, MOXIE produced oxygen from carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere by using solid oxide electrolysis. This was the first experimental extraction of a natural resource from another planet for human use. The technology may be scaled up for use in a human mission to the planet to provide breathable oxygen, oxidizer, and propellant; water may also be produced by combining the produced oxygen with hydrogen.
Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) | |
| Operator | NASA |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | NASA/Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory OxEon Energy |
| Instrument type | ISRU (in situ resource utilization) experimental technology |
| Function | Oxygen production |
| Began operations | 20 April 2021 |
| Ceased operations | 3 August 2023 |
| Website | mars |
| Properties | |
| Mass | 15 kg (33 lb) |
| Dimensions | 24 × 24 × 31 cm |
| Power consumption | 300 W |
| Host spacecraft | |
| Spacecraft | Perseverance |
| Launch date | July 30, 2020 |
| Rocket | Atlas V 541 |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral SLC-41 |
The experiment was a collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Haystack Observatory, the NASA/Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with OxEon Energy.