Thread by @weatherindia

Scientists Develop Game-Changing Technology That Can Extract Oxygen, Fuel from #Mars' Salty Water

weather.com/en-IN/india/sp…

By @kun5k

Discovering #water on celestial bodies is a pretty big deal—not only because water is a prerequisite for life, but also because the presence of H2O can make these bodies ideal destinations for human #space exploration.

(📸: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/MSSS)

One such planet is #Mars,which houses abundant water content.But as the #RedPlanet is very cold,most of its water is frozen;and the water that isn’t frozen exists because its freezing temperature is lowered by the salt from the Martian soil.

(📸:NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ.of Arizona)

The usual method of using electricity (electrolysis) to break the H2O down into oxygen (to breathe) and hydrogen (for fuel) requires removing the salt, which would be a cumbersome and costly endeavour, especially in #Mars’ harsh and dangerous environment.

But now, engineers at the #McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in the #US have figured out a way to directly coerce oxygen and hydrogen out of briny water, which would effectively make the brine electrolysis process less complicated and less expensive.

This could majorly help #astronauts live on #Mars—even temporarily—as it would better fulfil their needs to manufacture #water on the Red Planet. Moreover, the system developed in #Ramani's lab also produces hydrogen, which could be used to fuel the #astronauts' trip back home.

An interesting thing to note is that while the brine electrolysis system worked perfectly in a simulated #Martian atmosphere at -36°C, it can also be put to use effectively under typical terrestrial conditions here on #Earth.

If successful, its application could help provide oxygen during uncharted environmental #explorations in the deep seas here on #Earth, and also serve some purpose in the defence realm, like creating oxygen on-demand in submarines, for instance.