A photo from open sources
The space race for the colonization of Mars is a great chance for engineers compete in originality and performance of ideas. Humanity plans to establish a colony on the Red Planet, and for this, people will need to solve a lot of issues related to the safety of life of future colonists.
One such problem is oxygen for breathing. If the air is on The earth is saturated with it, and for people it is only good, then the atmosphere Mars is very different from Earth. Perhaps scientists suggest about four billion years ago the Red Planet was rich oxygen, but now the gases in her atmosphere are completely unsuitable for breathing.
Therefore, scientists decided to return to Mars what was lost and to satiate again its breathable air. Only in the last few months, three research teams presented their vision of how people can breathe on the fourth planet from the sun.
Students from the University of Western Australia in conjunction with candidate for participation in the Mars One project by Josh Richards (Josh Richards) developed a project called the Helena Payload Project. Researchers suggest using a simple system to extracting water from Martian soil and converting it into air for breathing by electrolysis.
The Australian team will compete with the German group Cyano Knights that offer an alternative way to generate air for Martian colonists. Oxygen according to the authors of this ideas that cyanobacteria can produce. Microorganisms can recycle up to 95% of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of Mars into clean oxygen.
Now Mars is unsuitable for living, but engineers are planning fix this situation (NASA / Wikimedia illustration) Commons).
A photo from open sources
“We hope to win, because it is our project that offers use the resources of Mars to support the future colonists, “Andre Van Vyulpen reports in a press release (Andre Van Vulpen), co-director of the Helena Payload Project.
Also participating in the race are engineering students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Their project MOXIE created in collaboration with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA (JPL NASA). Scientists suggest using solid electrolysis oxides, during which the effect of electricity on ceramics leads to the separation of carbon dioxide into CO (carbon monoxide) and O2 (pure oxygen).
The authors of the proposed projects have to conduct field testing their technology. After generating air on Earth in conditions that mimic the environment of Mars, scientists will need to find subjects who agree to breathe “artificial” by air.
Mars One project managers who do not plan to resettle colonists earlier than after 15-20 years, note that fill the atmosphere of the Red Planet with air will be possible in 5-10 years.
Thus inhospitable Mars will be ready to receive people. One can only hope that none of the projects on the creation of air on Mars will not repeat the fate of a greedy corporation from the famous movie “Remember Everything.”
Australia Mars NASA
