2
$\begingroup$

Reading through in-situ methods to manufacture oxygen on Mars, I see the following assets:

  • in future, 100x scale of MOXIE would produce up to two kilograms of oxygen per hour https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Oxygen_ISRU_Experiment Okay that is, year-demand for one adult will be in place already in 400kg/2=200 hours, or annual production will suffice for a colony of about 40 people. If this oxygen will be just a propellant source before people come, Elon Musk is talking about a propellant plant as well - well those 17 tons of LOX per year are not SO much. So how could this LOX factory look like on Mars, and maybe it makes sense after MOXIE succeeds indeed to design something self-replicating?
Improve this question
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ 1. at this point, it's too early to tell. 2. it needs to be reliable foremost (MOXIE has a very nasty failure mode involving carbon monoxide mixed into the with oxygen; any design easily replicable in-situ will have inferior reliability.) $\endgroup$
    – SF.
    Jun 6, 2017 at 22:53

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2
$\begingroup$

Considering the challenges of self-replicating it is more likely that more MOXIEs would be shipped in, or a Sabatier reactor if CH4 and LOX is preferred to just LOX and CO. In parallel for a colony though greenhouses would be started to produce food and oxygen which could supplement the colony and eventually be relied on to add to the breathing supply without importing more hardware for the colony from Earth.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.