Dr. Konstantinos P. Giapis, Post Doctorate Fellow Yunxi Yao, and Professor Thomas Miller have figured out a way to change carbon dioxide to breathable oxygen.
“[The team demonstrated] each time molecules of water were shot as tiny bullets onto oxygen-containing surfaces, such as rust, for example, the molecules of water could produce molecular oxygen by ripping off the oxygen which had been part of the rust.” (Article linked at the bottom)
Dr. Giapis says this can be used by machines to create oxygen in the exploration of Mars, and can also help fight climate change on Earth. The trio, along with Philip Shushkov, published their findings in the science journal Nature Communications in 2019.
Being able to explore and even occupy the surface of Mars, not only with robots but also with humans, would be a terrific landmark in space exploration, no?
Read the journal publication here.
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