NASA to produce breathable air on Mars in 2020

‘Terraforming’ planets so that humans can breathe the air and live safely on the surface is a science fiction staple - and NASA is bringing it closer to reality.

When Mars 2020 launches - the successor to today’s Mars Curiosity rover - it will carry a device which can produce oxygen on Mars.

If it works, the MOXIE device - designed by MIT, and working like a ‘reverse fuel cell’ - will pave the way for devices which will produce breathable air for astronauts.

Perhaps even more importantly, it could generate liquid oxygen on the surface of Mars - meaning that NASA astronauts could generate fuel for a return to Earth.

Speaking to Business Insider, former NASA astronaut Jeffrey A Hoffmann said, ‘It will be the first time when we will actually produce oxygen on the surface of Mars.’

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The highly publicised Mars One mission is designed to be a one-way trip to the Red Planet - but NASA aims to bring back its astronauts when they travel to Mars.

One of the main goals of the Mars 2020 mission will be to determine if and how human astronauts will survive on the surface of Mars.

The MOXIE device uses electricity generated by a separate machine to turn carbon dioxide (the main ingredient of Mars’s atmosphere) into oxygen and carbon monoxide.

‘It’s a pretty exotic way to run a fuel cell on Earth,’ said Michael Hecht of MIT.

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‘But on Mars if you want to run an engine, you don’t have oxygen. Over 75 percent of what you would have to carry to run an engine on Mars would be oxygen.

‘Human exploration of Mars will be a seminal event for the next generation, the same way the moon landing mission was for my generation,’ Hecht said.

‘I welcome this opportunity to move us closer to that vision.