Making Oxygen on Mars - NASA’s Breakthrough EXPLAINED

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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, never-gone-through-someone’s-bladder.

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.

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.

Fascinating stuff! Thank you!!

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.

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.

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.

wow, that was information dense and totally out of my comfort zone of knowledge, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it and was explained very well, thanks for sharing

Awesome video! 🎉😊

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.

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

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!

I think we need to thicken Mar's atmosphere somehow first.