2023-06-09 16:00:00
The survival of future Mars missions will depend the maximum use that can be made of the available resources, from sunlight to astronaut wastewater. Starting from this same premise, a team of researchers from the foundation Techniciandedicated to research on industrial engineering, has designed a new reactor capable of taking advantage of the environmental conditions of the red planet to use them as space rocket fuel. The key, reuse the CO2a molecule that makes up 95% of the Martian atmosphere, and recycle part of the waste caused by the astronauts themselves.
From Tekniker they explain what they consist of and how it works: it is a device similar to a cube with different cells (as if it were a sandwich) it will convert the CO2 into other elements with the help of solar energy captured on the red planet. The ‘photoelectrochemical’ system developed in this project will convert these resources into hydrocarbons such as methane, carbon monoxide and alcohol, which will serve as fuels for launching rockets from martian soil. The same process, the researchers explain, will serve to detoxify the water used in space missions in order to reuse it for other purposes. “The reactor will be powered by sunlight, and the gray water from the astronauts will be used to help in the production of the propellant, explains Borja del Pozo, researcher and coordinator of the space sector at Tekniker. The system does not purify water, as the dirty water that enters it breaks down into various elements, enabling the electrochemical reactions necessary to produce methane, but reuses it to become an efficient fuel.
The use of resources could be the only viable alternative for future space missions.
“This activity provides us with a very valuable resource, not only for the design of new thrusters for the red planet, but also as a power source for remote places, such as scientific stations on Earth,” says Jean Christophe Berton, a technician from the Agency. European Space Agency, the entity responsible for financing and developing this scientific project within the framework of the Open Space Innovation Platform.
Fight climate change
The promising results of the project not only make this technology a resource for future space missions, but also to combat climate change on our planet, since it could provide key information on the path to decarbonizing the Earth’s atmosphere. “For example, it could be applied for solutions of reduction of carbon dioxide in industryto or to developr new similar products that reuse gray water produced by companies or means of transport, such as boats and motorhomes”, say Borja Pozo, researcher and coordinator of the Tekniker space sector, and Jonathan Albo, professor at the University of Cantabria, in a announcement.
© Technician
The new device devised by Spanish scientists consists of a cube with different cells, and includes a reactor that converts CO2 into methane with the help of solar energy and gray water from astronauts.
The use of resources in the field of space exploration is called “in situ resource utilization” (ISRU), an acronym used to describe those activities and processes that take advantage of the resources available in other planets or moons for ensure that future space missions can produce their own supplies in long-term missions, thus minimizing the materials that need to be transported from Earth. A very precious resource, and perhaps the only viable alternative for future space missions.
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