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Completed TRL 8 (started at 5, targeting 8)
MOXIE is a 1-percent scale model of an oxygen processing plant capable of producing consumable grade (99.6 percent) oxygen at a rate of 20 grams per hour. The experiment will be conducted throughout several seasons over the course of a Martian year, demonstrating resilience with respect to dust and other environmental challenges.
As part of the Mars 2020 payload, MOXIE is significant to analyzing and determining if a specialized reverse fuel cell that consumes electricity to produce oxygen is a viable system. A system like this is also a crucial, necessary precursor to larger scale oxygen production plants on Mars.
MOXIE will demonstrate In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) technologies to enable propellant and consumable oxygen production from the Martian atmosphere for future exploration missions.
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This is a mature technology (TRL 8) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.
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