Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2021 - 21

bon monoxide as a byproduct. As the
gases flow through the system, they are
analyzed to check how much oxygen has
been produced, how pure it is, and how
efficiently the system is working. All the
gases are vented back into the atmosphere after each experiment is run.
This electrochemical conversion requires high temperatures - about 1,470 °F
(800 °C) - in order to work. To manage
those high temperatures, MOXIE, which is
a little larger than a toaster, features a variety of heat-tolerant materials. Special 3Dprinted nickel alloy parts heat and cool the
gases flowing through the instrument,
while super-light insulation called aerogel
holds in the heat to minimize the power
needed to keep it at operating temperatures. The outside of MOXIE is coated in a
thin layer of gold, which is an excellent
reflector of infrared heat and keeps those
blistering temperatures from radiating into
other parts of Perseverance.
A full-scale MOXIE system on Mars
might be a bit larger than a household
stove and weigh around 2,200 pounds -
almost as much as Perseverance itself.
Work is ongoing to develop a prototype
for one in the near future. MOXIE is
expected to run about ten times over the
course of one Mars year (two Earth years),
allowing NASA to watch how well it works

in varying seasons. The results will inform
the design of future oxygen generators.

Suit Up
Before astronauts can get to Mars,
they'll be faced with a critical question:
What should they wear on Mars where the
thin atmosphere allows more radiation
from the Sun and cosmic rays to reach the
ground? To determine that, Perseverance
is carrying the first samples of spacesuit
material ever sent to the Red Planet.
While the rover collects rock and soil
samples for future return to Earth, five
small pieces of spacesuit material will be
studied by an instrument called SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments
with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals). The materials, including a piece of helmet visor, are embedded alongside a fragment of a Martian meteorite in SHERLOC.
The materials are ortho-fabric -
consisting of Nomex, Gore-Tex, and
Kevlar - Vectran, which is used in
spacesuit gloves, Teflon, and polycarbonate for helmet visors. These materials would be used for the outer layer
of a suit that will be exposed to the
most radiation.
On Mars, radiation will break down the
chemical composition of the materials,

weakening their tensile strength. SHERLOC will help determine how long the
materials will last. The device is designed
to determine the composition of the Mars
rocks the rover collects - the same can
be done with spacesuit materials.

A Roving Meteorologist
Mars is about to get a new stream of
weather reports. As Perseverance scours
Jezero Crater for signs of ancient microbial life, it will provide key atmospheric
data that will help enable future astronauts to the Red Planet to survive in a
world with no breathable oxygen, freezing
temperatures, planet-wide dust storms,
and intense radiation from the Sun.
The instrument behind the weather
data is the Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA). Part of its
goal is to gather the basics: temperature, wind speed and direction, pressure, and relative humidity. Models of
the temperature at Perseverance's landing site range from an average of -126
°F (-88 °C) at night to about -9 °F (-23
°C) in the afternoon.
Together with weather instruments
aboard NASA's Curiosity rover and
InSight lander, the three spacecraft will
create the first meteorological network
on another planet.

This artist's concept depicts astronauts and
human habitats on Mars. NASA's Mars 2020
rover carries a number of technologies that
could make Mars safer and easier for humans
to explore.

Tech Briefs, March 2021

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Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2021

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