Life on Mars: Astronauts living on Red Planet could extract O2 from water with new device

Mars is a very cold planet, with an average temperature of -36 degrees Celsius. So while The Red Planet has water, these bone-chilling temperatures mean that either the water is completely frozen or is extremely salty, having been absorbing salts from the Martian soils for billions of years.

Salt water is not drinkable and on Earth, scientists use electricity to break down salty water into oxygen and fuel.

To take the equipment to Mars which would be needed to do that would be extremely costly, and would take up precious cargo space on rockets to the Red Planet.

However, researchers at the Engineers at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St Louis have developed a system which allows them to coerce oxygen and fuel out of salt water.

This could allow future Martian residents to not only have breathable oxygen, which they will need plenty of for their tanks or abodes, but also fuel, which could be topped up on the Red Planet in preparation for a potential journey home.

Furthermore, they could have a vast supply of previously undrinkable water.

The small device is an electrolyzer but allows the system to function without the need for heating or purifying the water source.

On Earth, electrolyzers use highly purified, deionized water to help extract oxygen and fuel from salt water.

However, that amount of pure water would not be able to be carried to Mars, so the researchers created a small system which can be used only with salty water, meaning no extra water would need to be taken to the Red Planet.

READ MORE: Mars scientists crack mystery of how Red Planet loses its water

Prof Ramani said the technology could be of equal useful on Earth, according to the research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

He continued: “Our Martian brine electrolyzer radically changes the logistical calculus of missions to Mars and beyond.

“This technology is equally useful on Earth where it opens up the oceans as a viable oxygen and fuel source.”

Pralay Gayen, a postdoctoral research associate in Prof Ramani’s group and also a joint first author on this study, said: “Having demonstrated these electrolyzers under demanding Martian conditions, we intend to also deploy them under much milder conditions on Earth to utilise brackish or salt water feeds to produce hydrogen and oxygen, for example through seawater electrolysis.”

source: express.co.uk