The Mars Perseverance Rover is taking a few hours off from exploring Jezero Crater this weekend so a device can run a chemistry experiment that could make it possible for humans to survive on Mars, and get back home. The Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) uses a device to extract small amounts of oxygen from the Martian atmosphere. This weekend will be the third time the MOXIE will be run since February.
Each time the experiment is run, enough oxygen for a human to breathe for 10-15 minutes is produced. The goal is to scale MOXIE up to an automated system for a human crew to breathe and use for the return flight. The Perseverance Rover will be unable to perform any other experiments or collect data while MOXIE is being run.
