Questions tagged [oxygen]

Questions regarding consumption and production of oxygen

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3 votes
1 answer
574 views

How are oxygen and nitrogen replenished in the storage tanks on the ISS?

How they add gases to high pressure tanks. Will the supply trucks bring it? And how will it be connected?
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16 votes
2 answers
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Are there any short-term survivable locations in the solar system, outside of Earth?

Are there any known natural locations (i.e. not counting ISS) in our solar system (outside of Earth) where a human being in street clothes (i.e. without a spacesuit or other specialized equipment) ...
6 votes
1 answer
330 views

How much algae would you need to fully support a person?

Recently, I saw a video on Cody'sLab, where an “algae panel” was constructed. This is set up like a solar panel and uses algae to convert light and air into food and oxygen. This got me wondering how ...
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What fraction of the Kapton thickness on the ISS' solar panels was likely eroded throughout their lifetime? Predictions? Measurements?

Background @Tristan's answer to How are the silicon PV cells constructed in the ISS's solar panels? Are they as flexible as they appear here? informs us that Kapton is part of the "blanket" ...
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1 vote
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Oxygen Generation System

Is there any possible failure that OGS (oxygen generation system which ISS has) can overproduce oxygen in a spaceship? Just wondering the possibility how can spaceship explode by themselves without ...
23 votes
2 answers
6k views

Why aren't spacecraft and spacesuits pressurised to 2.5 psi (17 kPa) of pure oxygen?

Today 1 atm (101.3 kPa, 14.7 psi) with sea level composition is most commonly used on spacecraft to avoid fire hazards like in Apollo 1 (not that it would have helped the Apollo 1 crew as they couldn'...
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4 votes
1 answer
123 views

What transportation energy “currency” would be most suitable for mobile machinery on the Martian surface?

What transportation energy “currency” (methane, H2, electricity) would be most suitable for mobile machinery on the Martian surface? Photovoltaic (PV) cells or nuclear energy will likely be the only ...
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1 vote
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What are opinions of most planetary scientists on this study (link below), were there already some complex reviews in scientific journals? [closed]

I remember this two year old article from Universe Today https://www.universetoday.com/144402/science-fiction-might-be-right-after-all-there-might-be-breathable-atmospheres-across-the-universe/ about ...
3 votes
1 answer
282 views

Can the cryogenic expansion of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen be used to pump a rocket engine?

A common fuel amongst rockets is that of the combination of cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. I looked at the design of a simple rocket using this cocktail that is the propellant and found ...
10 votes
2 answers
961 views

Self-sustainable Hermetically Sealed System: Humans & Plants

Somewhat related to How many plants would be needed to produce oxygen enough for 20 humans? Suppose a number of humans are closed in a large hermetically sealed room on Earth with a glass (or other ...
7 votes
2 answers
270 views

How much oxygen can MOXIE produce?

So MOXIE is using solid oxide electrolysis to produce Oxygen. I assume the amount of oxygen MOXIE can produce is limited so how much can it produce before the solid oxide electrolyzer cell stops ...
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Is CO + O ==> CO2 a possibility for propelling rockets off Mars? [duplicate]

Perseverance, the Mars rover, includes an experiment called MOXIE. This is a technology demonstration to show that Mars' atmospheric carbon dioxide can be broken into carbon monoxide and oxygen. ...
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1 answer
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Could we intentionally contaminate another celestial body with life to start producing oxygen?

My question is simple, could we "nuke" a planet with life to create an atmosphere over time? I was seeing a documentary about Jupiter's moon, Europa, and how it could have hydro thermal ...
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4 votes
1 answer
210 views

How is CO₂ scrubbed from the air in a space vessel?

Within a space vessel such as the ISS for example, how do the astronauts regulate the level of CO₂ they are breathing and how is the air scrubbed exactly?
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4 votes
1 answer
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Experience of breathing regular air vs. Nitrox vs pure oxygen at 4.3 psi?

Has any astronaut/cosmonaut described a difference in the feeling of breathing pure oxygen at 4.3 psi in a spacesuit compared breathing regular air at sea level or even to Nitrox used in the Neutral ...
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4 votes
1 answer
385 views

Did the Space Shuttle crew have to worry about monatomic oxygen?

Comments below this answer tell us that the Space Shuttle always remained in Earth's atmosphere. When it visited the Hubble Space Telescope or the ISS or Mir it was still in the thermosphere and ...
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14 votes
1 answer
741 views

How does it feel to breathe 100% oxygen at low pressure?

Some space suits are designed to provide an atmosphere of 100% oxygen but at a reduced air pressure about 20% that of sea level. Is breathing in such a suit uncomfortable? It seems like having such a ...
3 votes
1 answer
292 views

What about recycling used lithium hydroxide on the Moon?

Lithium hydroxide was used to remove exhaled carbon dioxide from breathing gas during the Apollo mission. Is there any research done how to recycle used lithium hydroxide on the Moon? Separating the ...
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4 votes
2 answers
223 views

How is it proposed to extract oxygen from lunar regolith?

Futurism's news item NASA Pumps Funding into Startup That Says It Can Harvest Oxygen From Lunar Regolith says: NASA just awarded substantial funding to Pioneer Astronautics, a company that claims it ...
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6 votes
1 answer
356 views

What effects did the different air pressure and air composition in certain spacecraft have on astronauts?

The Mercury and Gemini spacecraft, and in space the Apollo spacecraft, didn't pressurize their cockpits to 1 atm with Earth-like atmospheric composition; instead, they used pure oxygen at much lower ...
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3 votes
0 answers
107 views

How are cryogenic fuels and oxidizers generated and procured?

I understand hydrogen can be generated from steam-methane reforming or from electrolysis of water and then cooled to liquid through a series of cryogenic coolers. For steam reforming, the hydrogen ...
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0 answers
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How much energy would be needed to liquify 1 gram of atmospheric oxygen on Mars?

I've been told I have no Moxie but I still need oxygen to live on Mars. I see that Mars' atmosphere is 0.14% oxygen and my sad moxiless self wants some. I want to make a low power refrigerator to ...
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5 votes
1 answer
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How many square meters of solar panel to power a MOXIE-like oxygen source per person?

If I wanted to live in a box on Mars to write my screenplay about living in a box on Mars, how many square meters of solar panels would I need to power a MOXIE-like CO2-to-O2 converter in order to ...
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3 votes
2 answers
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What was pressure and temperature of LM oxygen tanks?

After analysing comments in related question How cryogenic oxygen was heated up for CM cabin repressurization? It appears that LM had oxygen stored as either gas or supercritical fluid but not at ...
6 votes
1 answer
675 views

How cryogenic oxygen was heated up for CM cabin repressurization?

In related question How was temperature and humidity maintained inside the Apollo mission capsules? the basic concept of conditioning Apollo mission capsules environment is described. After ...
4 votes
1 answer
147 views

Algae Bioreactor for O2 and CO2 (and food?) - Any data on required size and power requirements?

I believe that the requirements for a single persons $\require{mhchem}\ce{O2}$/$\ce{CO2}$ balance run somewhere in the region of $8m^2$ of algae, which would seem to be possible in a single $\approx ...
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23 votes
3 answers
7k views

Why would oxygen be stored as a super critical fluid?

Organic Marble just answered a question about Apollo 13 in terms of the storage of Oxygen, and posted some fascinating stuff, including the fact that Oxygen was stored as a super-critical fluid. I ...
16 votes
2 answers
7k views

What does "stirring tanks" mean?

The Apollo 13 disaster occurred right when the "oxygen tanks were stirred". What does that mean? What benefits does it give? What would happen if they didn't stir the tanks?
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2 votes
0 answers
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What is the best oxidizer? [duplicate]

I was wondering if there is a more efficient alternative to plain o2? Also, I know this is adding another question, but could you make a functioning rocket with ozone(O3) as an oxidizer(if it is ...
4 votes
1 answer
293 views

Could the sulfuric acid in the atmosphere of Venus be heated enough by concentrated sunlight to create water and oxygen?

The atmospheric pressure and temperature at about 50 to 60 km above the surface of Venus is nearly the same as that of the Earth, making its upper atmosphere the most Earth-like area in the Solar ...
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15 votes
2 answers
2k views

How long were the Apollo astronauts allowed to breathe 100% oxygen at 1 atmosphere continuously?

This answer explains that from the time they suited up "in the Suit Lab before launch" until the time the capsule started depressurizing during ascent, the Apollo astronauts were breathing 100% oxygen ...
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3 votes
1 answer
203 views

In principle, could the oxygen tanks of an 'air breathing' rocket, be filled during ascent?

(Thinking of SABRE and it's heat exchanger). As I understand it, Skylon would take off with full oxygen tanks. Putting aside engineering difficulties, is there a thermodynamic reason why a hybrid ...
3 votes
1 answer
982 views

What would it feel like for an astronaut if his/her spacesuit ran out of air?

I’m curious what it would feel like if an astronaut’s spacesuit ran out of air while they were on mars, vs taking the suit off? inspired this question
1 vote
1 answer
167 views

Conditions on Titan under which human breath can be set to fire

Motivated by the question Titan vs Mars for colonization, I wonder what exactly happens if human exhalation products are released into Titanian atmosphere and, say, a spark igniter happens to be ...
3 votes
1 answer
438 views

How does SpaceX plan to obtain Oxygen in Mars?

In the ISS they obtain Oxygen from water through electrolysis. I guess this could be possible in Mars if they land near a large water source. NASA in the other hand, it's working for ways to obtain ...
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3 votes
2 answers
217 views

Pressurized Organic Oxygen Pods

Human waste could be used in a hydroponics facility to grow algae in space or Mars in pressurized tanks, and the photosynthesis can be used to convert CO2 to breathable oxygen. A carbon dioxide ...
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1 vote
2 answers
179 views

Can carbon dioxide be distilled from a Helium/Oxygen atmosphere by using natural refrigeration?

A simple air compressor compress carbon dioxide/water saturated helium/oxygen air in a tank to liquefy water from the air by pressure. Abstract the water, then refrigerate the carbon dioxide/helium/...
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1 vote
0 answers
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Iron powder reaction in chlorate candle [closed]

When a sodium chlorate candle is ignighted, the iron powder is burned to allow the oxygen to be released with the reaction 2NaClO3 → 2NaCl + 3O2 The iron powder is not included in this equation, and ...
0 votes
0 answers
466 views

What would happen if an astronaut walked on mars without a spacesuit i.e. wearing just earth clothes? [duplicate]

Which will happen first: Would she die due to lack of oxygen/suffocation or due to lack of pressure/boiling bodily fluids?
2 votes
1 answer
486 views

Martian Carbon Dioxide Turbine Oxygen Generator

How much solid Carbon Dioxide can be collected in a container with the top of the container level with the ground during a Martian Winter? Side Question: What do you call a generator that runs on the ...
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14 votes
1 answer
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What is the advantage of using Helium over Nitrogen when used for pressurising LOx?

In this Twitter post of the plumbing line diagram(left half) by LauncherSpace, one can notice that Helium is used for pressurising LOx while Nitrogen is used for pressurising Kerosene. Why the ...
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8 votes
2 answers
1k views

How feasible is it to grow algae on Mars to use as food, plastic and oxygen production?

I am currently researching the idea of growing spirulina algae on Mars for as a renewable source of oxygen, food and material. So the question arises: How feasible would it be to grow spirulina in an ...
3 votes
0 answers
654 views

Safety of carbon fiber oxygen tanks

It seems that there has been controversy as to how safe carbon fiber can be for LOX tanks. In early tests, materials were found to be too ready to combust. This has been a stumbling block for ...
3 votes
2 answers
267 views

Could we get free O₂ on Mars?

I think that the new Mars rover in 2020 will make oxygen, from thin Martian atmosphere. I think Mars' atmosphere is 90% $CO_2$. Carbon dioxide is made of $C$ and $O_2$. $O_2$ is oxygen, so can't we ...
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14 votes
4 answers
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Do rockets deplete the oxygen on earth?

When we use our rockets in space, are we using up a fraction of the finite oxygen here on earth? I'm assuming that it's a negligible amount at our current rate of space travel, but could this ...
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2 votes
1 answer
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Manufacturing H2 and O2 rocket fuel components?

I'm curious as to the typical manufacturing (or gathering) methodology of H2 and O2 used in modern rockets for fuel and oxidizer. It would seem that the most straightforward process would seem to be ...
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12 votes
4 answers
6k views

Is oxygen present in the sun? [closed]

If there is no oxygen in the sun, then how is it burning? My question may be weird but I need a realistic answer for that.
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11 votes
2 answers
657 views

Why is the surface of Mars oxidized?

Before 2.5 to 2Gya, Earth's surface was a chemically reducing environment (evidence includes reduced forms of iron, sulfur, and uranium in rocks before that time). It is believed to have become ...
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2 votes
1 answer
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In-situ oxygen on Mars - what is MOXIE and SpaceX' ITS relation?

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/...
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1 vote
1 answer
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Balancing oxygen and food production

For a self-sustaining base on Mars (or elsewhere)... I've read and been told that growing enough plants to eat would produce too much oxygen, but there are many in-depth designs for self-sustaining ...