We made Oxygen!!!! On Mars!!! With a toaster sized thingy!

[underpants]

Sorry I didn’t see this yesterday


Perseverance rover just made oxygen on Mars



https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/22/world/mars-rover-oxygen-moxie-scn/index.html

The rover on Tuesday successfully converted some of the plentiful carbon dioxide on Mars into oxygen as a first test of its MOXIE instrument. The name MOXIE is short for Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment.

After warming up for about two hours, MOXIE produced 5.4 grams of oxygen. This is enough to sustain an astronaut for about 10 minutes.

The instrument is about the size of a toaster, and it's a technology demonstration installed on the rover. If this experiment is successful, it could assist with human exploration of Mars in the future.

[largeststage]

1. Richest Person of Bangladesh

Great Post

[niyad]

13. Welcome to our DU family.

[lagomorph777]

34. ?

I don't understand your subject line.

[gopiscrap]

53. welcome to DU

[electric_blue68]

2. Definitely being amazed, and cheering about it

and only a "toaster size" thingie?! 😄

Damn swoon worthy! 👏

[Duncanpup]

3. If I could marry the toaster thingy I would

[mahatmakanejeeves]

22. Thanks to gay marriage, you can! NT

[panader0]

25. It doubles as an air fryer.

That's what I lust after.

[underpants]

42. 😆

[johnthewoodworker]

4. There is no way a Republican/Nazi celebrates O2 on Mars because Jesus.

[Harker]

24. And "Capricorn One.". n/t

[kentuck]

5. That is the most amazing thing I have seen in my life!

Imagine what something the size of a refrigerator could do.

[bucolic_frolic]

6. Worst waste of taxpayer money outside the Pentagon

[Elessar Zappa]

8. I disagree.

I think space exploration is a great use of tax dollars.

[NurseJackie]

12. You're intelligent and reasonable.

I agree with you.

[mac2766]

15. I would agree in terms of technology, but...

I have a difficult time with the over-all expense of it. Can you give some specific examples as to why space exploration is a great use of tax dollars? I'm genuinely interested and am not looking for a heated debate.

Again, I am amazed with the technology, but am having trouble with the price tag(s). I'm also a great fan of Elon Musk (except for the hissy fit related to the pandemic and labor shortage at his Tesla plant - that I did not agree with).

[Tom Rinaldo]

19. There is something about exploring the horizons of knowledge that is akin to Art

in the overall effect that it has on our humanity. Art doesn't feed us, it doesn't cloth us, but... Or, in a different way, in some ways analogous to most of humanity's emotional cathartic reaction to spectator sports. How many billion dollar sports spectator sport sport complexes do we humans actually need?

Space exploration in particular may already have more than paid for itself many times over by helping humanity gain perspective on our status as a species co-inhabiting one small orb in the galaxy, dependent on each other and the exosphere which sustains us.

[onethatcares]

27. cordless tools

ya just can't get an extension cord that long into space.

[mac2766]

28. I'd gladly plug in my drill...

for universal health care. Not arguing, but technology can be created on Earth without the expense of going to outer space. I won't say that I'm indifferent. I do think that space travel is necessary, but I'm not sure about spending that much money when we could make life better on Earth. It's a quandary for me really.

[lastlib]

30. If you have any device that uses any kind of microchip...

you are using the fruits of space program research. The need to miniaturize electronic circuits was driven by the space program.

Here is another point--If we don't do it, our adversaries will. And THEY will reap the rewards. We put our security and growth as a nation at risk if we don't pursue space exploration. Space exploration has never failed to expand our economic horizons, just as it does our scientific horizons. In the end, it pays back what we invest in it.

[mac2766]

35. The micro-chip would have happened either way I believe, but...

I agree with you on improved scientific horizons. Again it's a quandary. The money could be used for many different things, including: universal health care, ending poverty, education, etc... Like I said, I'm not actually against space exploration, I just think it's too expensive. Just like the endless wars we're paying for. Not comparing the two things in an exact way, but comparing the budget line items.

[Hiawatha Pete]

18. Get your tickets to Mars, only 1 billion Euros per person

Because we would rather use public money so the rich can settle another planet, instead of fixing this one.

That said, as some others here mentioned, it would be good if the technology could be used to reduce CO2 here on earth

[Calista241]

51. We can already break apart CO2 into component atoms of carbon and Oxygen.

People are doing it today, it's just power intensive, and thus expensive. If you are using coal or gas power, the elimination of CO2 in this fashion is not economical, but if you're using green or nuclear power, a power source that doesn't emit CO2 as a byproduct, it becomes more realistic.

It's hard to do at scale today, but companies, researchers and governments are investing billions in the R&D to solve that problem. In fact I read an article a year or two ago about an idea to build a few of TerraPower's nuclear power plants (Bill Gates's super safe power plants), and use lasers to break up CO2 molecules in the upper atmosphere.

[Irish_Dem]

29. Taxpayers are funding New Earth for the elite when they are done trashing this planet.

The rich will leave us to deal with the horrific consequences of their greed and destruction here on Old Earth.

[Agschmid]

32. Totally incorrect, space exploration leads to countless news technologies right here on Earth.

[Victor_c3]

39. Waste yes, but a much better way to direct nationalism

Instead of building weapons to kill people and having parades and celebrations to honor those who served and died in our nation’s wars as a result of our leaders’ failures at diplomacy, I’d much rather else’s the resources dumped into something like space exploration. At least there humanity could potentially gain something tangible.

Besides, Memorial Day should be a National day of shame and mourning and not a day we celebrate and get good deals on mattresses.

[CaptainTruth]

46. It's an investment that creates jobs & supports our economy.

The money spent on the space program doesn't launch into space & disappear. The dollars go to NASA, then it goes into the pockets of their employees (jobs created) who buy cars & houses & all kinds of consumer goods & pay taxes. A lot of it goes to thousands & thousands of subcontractors who use it to buy materials (creating jobs & income for materials suppliers & their employees (jobs), who use it to buy cars & houses & all kinds of consumer goods & pay taxes) to make the millions of parts required to build a rocket & payload, & who pay their employees (jobs) salaries who in turn spend it to buy cars & houses & all kinds of consumer goods & pay taxes.

Each dollar spent on the space program gets spent & re-spent 3-4-5 times, & unlike tax cuts for the rich, the money really DOES "trickle down" into the pockets of millions of Americans who work in every associated business & industry that supplies materials, products, & services to support the space program.

I'm probably more aware of it than the average person because I live near Kennedy Space Center & every day I see how that space program money is going into the pockets of average Americans.

It's an investment.

[llmart]

54. Thank you for that!

My son is a software engineer for NASA, so I have more inside knowledge of all that goes into the space program, including medical research. Space exploration is NOT a waste of money. That's the sort of statement I'd expect from a RW nutjob.

[Throck]

7. Can this technology be used to reduce CO2 on earth?

[meadowlander]

9. Then you wouldn't have the excuse for the awesome acronym.

[Midnight Writer]

47. Every home should have one.

[edbermac]

10. Yeah but not enough.

Gotta find Kuato.

[Ace Rothstein]

16. Start the reactor, free Mars.

[Carlitos Brigante]

23. That is one of the best lines in cinematic history. How did go? Oh yeah;

"AAAAAAAAAARGGGHHHH!!!!"

[greenjar_01]

45. Came here for this

[kentuck]

11. If it wasn't meant to be...

It would not be.

The fact that it is possible makes it more valuable than all the money in the world.

In my opinion.

[samnsara]

14. was this by space x or nasa? If Musks making oxygen now.....

..hes getting some serious power.

[speak easy]

21. Nasa.

[abqtommy]

17. I'm anxious to see what the combination applicance Hate Zapper/Love Infuser will do

for us!

[speak easy]

20. Oxygen on Mars / Suffocating in India

Not criticizing, but the concurrence is striking.

[tanyev]

26. I'm disappointed the little helicopter wasn't named SPUNK.

[Takket]

31. Now we need to make food and an internet connection

And I’ll be all set to move there.

[jcboon]

33. Does anyone want any TOAST???

[3825-87867]

36. Holier than thous

To paraphrase a commercial from the '60s:

If we can make oxygen on Mars, why can't we keep giving billions in subsidies to Exxon, Big Pharma, etc.?*

Results from Space exploration? Really? I guess people think most of the super tech we have today was just the result of a few "smart" people working for private corporations. Wonder where they got their ideas? Probably from a million people working on the Space Program and its adjuncts in the '50s, '60s, 70s, 80s etc.

Not to mention the fact that Today's Pioneers like Musk and his rockets didn't have to go through the rugged testing NASA used to allow him to produce his craft. If he had to spend the kind of money to test from scratch over and over, he'd probably stick to state of the art cars. Oh wait! Wonder where the technology came from for those? Maybe someone just pulled it out of their...

And the age old BS of we could have used that money for something better is just that, BS. We would have just spent it on gas companies and more tax breaks for those who already have enough.

Yeah, I"m sure Congress would have said to take that 30 billion to go to the moon and give it to the poor! Just like they'd say something similar today...like let's help people who have Covid or let's fix our infrastructure instead of a 2 trillion dollar tax break for those who don't need it! We can't even get 50% to agree on those items. At least we got something out of the moon money - as you type on your phone or computer.

My mother-in-law used to think they just too that 30 billion and burned it in the backyard in the '60s. She never gave a thought to the fact that her husband had a great job working for a company that NASA contracted out to - along with millions of others like him. She and millions of other families at the time ate well and lived well for a middle class Americans because of the Space Program

Sorry for the rant. People can be short-sighted and willfully uninformed.


*If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we make a great cup of coffee?

[Botany]

37. Scale it up big time and convert the excess CO2 in our atmosphere to O2

Greenhouse problem fixed.

[Wounded Bear]

38. GMTA. I was gonna post the same thought...

crank out about a billion of these mothers and install them all over the world.

[Botany]

41. And make them solar or wind powered so the energy used by "these mothers" is green.

Problem solved.

[Wounded Bear]

43. I assume the one on Mars is solar powered...

how else?

[Botany]

44. "how else?"

[Brother Buzz]

49. Could be, but it isn't nuclear powered

Crazy as it sounds, nuclear power systems have been used in space probes and on crewed lunar missions; they function independently of sunlight.

[Wounded Bear]

52. Yep, Voyager 1 $ 2 had a small nuclear power pack on them...

Still operating 40 years later.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

48. The "Earth" solution probably won't work on Mars:

Stop burning forests. Plant more trees.

[Botany]

50. Just planting trees won't do it.

n/t

[llashram]

40. yep

MARS NEXT...

[misanthrope]

55. There is insufficient magnetosphere

Before we gain the technology to work around that, the bill for humankind will come due on Earth in the form of climate change.