Qatar- From science fiction to From science fiction to science fact: Glad tidings from Marsscience fact: Glad tidings from Mars

(MENAFN - Gulf Times) Ever since Perseverance, Nasa's newest six-wheeled robot, landed on the Martian surface on February 18 this year, news from the red planet has been something to cheer about in a world dominated by worrying updates about Covid-19. More excitement unfolded yesterday when the rover's payload Ingenuity helicopter successfully completed its third Mars flight of its experimental flight test window. The flight added several new challenges to the first, which on April 19 created history by becoming the first aircraft to make a powered, controlled flight on another planet. In between, in a growing list of ‘firsts' for Perseverance, on April 20, the rover converted some of the thin, carbon dioxide-rich Martian atmosphere into oxygen. A toaster-size, experimental instrument aboard Perseverance called the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilisation Experiment (Moxie) accomplished the task.  While the technology demonstration is just getting started, it could pave the way for science fiction to become science fact isolating and storing oxygen on Mars to help power rockets that could lift astronauts off the planet's surface. Such devices also might one day provide breathable air for astronauts themselves. After a 2-hour warm-up period Moxie began producing oxygen at a rate of 6gm per hour. This was reduced two times during the run in order to assess the status of the instrument. After an hour of operation the total oxygen produced was about 5.4gm, enough to keep an astronaut healthy for about 10 minutes of normal activity.  To burn its fuel, a rocket must have more oxygen by weight. Getting four astronauts off the Martian surface on a future mission would require approximately seven metric tonnes of rocket fuel and 25 metric tonnes of oxygen. In contrast, astronauts living and working on Mars would require far less oxygen to breathe. The astronauts who spend a year on the surface will use one metric tonne between them. Hauling 25 metric tonnes of oxygen from Earth to Mars would be an arduous task. Transporting a one-tonne oxygen converter a larger, more powerful descendant of Moxie that could produce those 25 tonnes would be far more economical and practical. Mars' atmosphere is 96% carbon dioxide. Moxie works by separating oxygen atoms from carbon dioxide molecules, which are made up of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms. A waste product, carbon monoxide, is emitted into the Martian atmosphere. The conversion process requires high levels of heat to reach a temperature of approximately 800 Celsius. To accommodate this, the Moxie unit is made with heat-tolerant materials. Moxie is designed to generate up to 10gm of oxygen per hour. This technology demonstration was designed to ensure the instrument survived the launch from Earth, a nearly seven-month journey through deep space, and touchdown with Perseverance. Moxie is expected to extract oxygen at least nine more times over the course of a Martian year (nearly two years on Earth). Now, coming to Ingenuity, even though gravity on Mars is about one third that of Earth's, the helicopter must fly with the assistance of an atmosphere with only about 1% of the density at Earth's surface. Each second of each flight provides an abundance of Mars in-flight data for comparison to the modelling, simulations, and tests performed back here on Earth. These datasets will prove invaluable for potential future Mars missions that could enlist next-generation helicopters to add an aerial dimension to their explorations.MENAFN25042021000067011011ID1101981610