Methane-based rocket fuel can be made on MARS in a one-step process that uses zinc and a small portable device, physics says
- Experts have devised a plan for astronauts to get enough fuel to return to Earth from Mars – by making methane-based fuel on the surface of the Red Planet
- Physicists are using materials found on Mars such as zinc and carbon dioxide
- Zinc would be used as a stimulant to cause a reaction in the carbon dioxide
- This would then begin the process of creating the methane-based fuel
- Other processes have suggested the use of a nickel catalyst to interact with hydrogen and carbon dioxide in high temperature and pressurized environments
Physicists at the University of California, Irvine have solved an urgent problem for space travelers: How can astronauts get enough fuel to travel back to Earth from Mars?
The idea of making methane-based fuels on the Red Planet has been circulating the scientific community for years, but many suggest methods that require large and multi-step resources.
Now, Houlin Xin and his team at UCI have designed a process that uses a single-atom zinc catalyst, allowing just one step with a small portable device.
This method dissolves zinc anatomically to become a synthetic enzyme that catalyzes carbon dioxide, found both on Mars, to begin the process of making methane-based fuels.
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Physicists at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) have solved an critical problem for space travelers – how can astronauts get enough fuel to travel back to Earth from Mars?
The idea of making methane on Mars to return rockets was first conceived by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
The Raptor SpaceX rocket is ready to power Starships traveling to Mars, runs on methane and Musk is working on developing ways to reload his rockets for the return trip to Earth. .
Musk proposes to use solar infrastructure to generate electricity, leading to electrolysis of carbon dioxide, which, when mixed with water from the ice found on Mars, produces methane.
This is the same method, called the Sabatier process, that is used on the International Space Station to convert water into breathable oxygen for astronauts.
The idea of making methane-based fuels on the Red Planet has been going around the scientific community for years, but there are many suggested methods that require large and multi-step resources.
The idea of making methane on Mars to return rockets was first conceived by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. The Raptor’s SpaceX rocket (pictured) is about to power Starships traveling to Mars, running on methane
The Sabatier process uses a nickel catalyst to interact with hydrogen and carbon dioxide at very high temperatures and pressures – a two-stage procedure that must be performed in a large facility.
And while it’s successful on the massive orbiting lab, Xin knows it’s not effective on Mars.
Its process requires less space and can operate using materials, such as zinc and carbon dioxide, on the Red Planet, as well as working in the real environment.
‘The process we have developed goes beyond the water-to-hydrogen process, and instead efficiently converts CO2 into methane with high selectivity,’ Xin said.
Now, Houlin Xin and his team at UCI have designed a process that uses a single – atom zinc catalyst, allowing just one step with a small portable device. This method dissolves zinc anatomically to become a synthetic enzyme that catalyzes carbon dioxide, found both on Mars, to begin the process of making methane-based fuels.
The key to the new and simpler way of finding is to use a sink as a catalyst.
‘The sink is basically a big catalyst,’ Xin said.
‘It has time, selectivity and carrying capacity – which is a huge advantage for space travel.’
Despite the progress, the process developed by Xin is still a ‘proof of concept,’ meaning that it has been successfully implemented in a laboratory, but has not yet been performed in real-world settings. true in the world.
‘A lot of engineering and research is needed before this can be fully implemented,’ he says. ‘But the results are very promising.’