A new NASA Mars project will attempt to use algae or bacteria microbes to produce breathable oxygen. The method would eliminate the need to transport oxygen supplies to the red planet's first human colony.
The United States space agency is funding the project of Techshot Inc., an aerospace development corporation. It would require all oxygen-making equipment to be on Mars itself.
The new manufacturing process could make manned colonies on Mars a reality. Techshot Inc. developed "Mars Rooms" to simulate the Mars environment. These rooms are actually chambers that can simulate the bleak Mars climate on the red planet's surface, according to CDA News. They add environmental features of Mars, including its atmosphere and radiation.
Various microorganisms such as algae and bacteria could extract oxygen and nitrogen from Mars' bedrock. Humans could then use the gases in human Mars colonies.
The successful design of Mars on-site oxygen production would eliminate one of the current issues related to the first manned Mars mission: the planet's hostile environment. By creating oxygen on Mars, transporting gas canisters would be unneeded.
NASA announced a planned mid-2030s human mission to Mars. Techshot's oxygen-manufacturing experiments would eliminate oxygen tanks aboard manned spacecrafts to the red planet.
Then in 2020 the NASA Mars rover would carry small container-like devices that contain microbes. During the mission to Mars, the rover would bury sealed containers slightly under the planet's urface.
Sensors inside the device would record how much oxygen is manufactured. The devices would then zap data back to the satellite circling Mars.
Eugene Broland, Techshot's chief scientist, has said that the process including the microbe-filled canisters would eliminate the need to transport them to the planet, according to Daily Mail. Also, the microbes would lift heavy objects for humans.
NASA has reported that it must land astronauts on the red planet's surface in order to search for extraterrestrial life. The Techshot project will help NASA to supply enough oxygen for future Mars missions, and produce nitrogen-free soil.