Being responsible for some of the greatest space discoveries like the Hubble Telescope, the Apollo missions and of course Explorer 1, the first US satellite, NASA has done a substantial amount for the US and our planet. One of their latest missions with the Mars Perseverance Rover in 2020, is still in effect and discovering new things on the red planet to this day.
Mars, our big, red, dry, rocky, and cold neighboring planet. NASA, being curious about Mars sent the Perseverance to study for habitability, seeking signs of past microbial life, collecting and storing samples of selected rock and soil, and preparing for future human missions. The Perseverance is a car-sized Mars rover launched on July 30th, designed to explore the Jezero crater on Mars as part of NASA's Mars 2020 mission.
What is this rover doing? How is it helping?
Mars’s atmosphere is unlike Earth’s. With just 0.13% Oxygen in its atmosphere, Mars is the second most habitable planet in the Solar System. NASA has sent the Perseverance to study the geology of mars to learn more about the geographical makings that fabricated and modified the Martian surface and crust through time. By sending the rover just for this reason, it has found profoundly more than anyone could think of.
How is it making oxygen? Why?
This instrument has released 122 grams of oxygen in the 3 years it has been on the big red planet with its record of producing 12 grams of oxygen in one hour. It is doing this by using the vast amounts of Carbon Dioxide in the planet’s atmosphere. This rover produces molecular oxygen through an electrochemical process that separates one oxygen atom from each molecule of carbon dioxide pumped in from Mars' thin atmosphere. By burning the CO2 in the atmosphere the incredibly designed rover has literally been making Oxygen!
NASA is doing this for a very important reason. It is a way of testing a way that future astronauts could make rocket propellant that would launch them back to Earth.
The Mars Perseverance Rover has found signs of life, signs of volcanic history, information on Mars’s habitability, the role of water in the Jezero Crater, an area of abraded rock dubbed “Ouzel Falls'', information on the climatic past, information on its magnetic field and many more tiny things which make a big difference in just three short years. Imagine how much we, as humans, could do and how we could change the world in such a short time.
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