This is how researchers want to generate oxygen in space

Although astronauts are launched into space with more than enough raw materials to survive, the most crucial of all is produced in space itself. Oxygen is currently extracted in the International Space Station (ISS) by electrolysis, but a team of scientists believe they have found a better way to make the essential.

The production of oxygen by electrolysis, a process in which water is separated under the influence of electric current to produce hydrogen and oxygen, requires enormous amounts of energy. For this reason, scientists are designing alternative ways to obtain the important food for astronauts.

Lower the costs

A study published in August in the scientific publication NPJ microgravity describes a way that could significantly reduce costs. The study authors want to use magnets to draw oxygen from water.

“Few people know that water and other liquids are magnetic to some degree,” Álvaro Romero-Calvo, the study’s lead author, told IPS. popular science. The science behind the technology he and his team developed has been known for some time, but the principle has yet to be explored for generating oxygen in space.

air bubbles

Romero-Calvo and his team are now busy studying the phenomenon. During their experiment, they placed an airtight capsule in a so-called “drop tower”. Dropping the capsule into a tower simulates weightlessness for a few seconds. Inside the capsule are liquids in which air bubbles float, which were successfully dislodged during the experiment using magnets.

In addition, the researchers discovered that the bubbles could be controlled by magnets, which would facilitate the transport of air in space. This would make it possible to develop systems that are much lighter and more reliable than the current large and complex installations.

Artemis

The fact that facilities can become more compact is of great importance for deep space travel. After all, the current systems used in the ISS are too complex and unreliable to be used, for example, during a trip to Mars. The ISS has the great advantage of being a stone’s throw from Earth, so it can always be resupplied in the event of a problem. This is not possible on a trip to Mars, so the margin of error must be much smaller.

It’s not so far-fetched, however, that the technology will be in use anytime soon. NASA wants to use . by 2024 the Artemi program land on the moon again. After that, the intention is to use the moon as a springboard for a first trip to the red planet in the 1930s. In addition to oxygen, scientists are busy finding ways to use other materials essential firsts, such as like iron and fuel, to be produced in space.

(mah)