Guests: John Batchelor, Dr. Michael Hecht, Dr. David Livingston.  Topics:  The MOXIE experiment on the Mars Perseverance Rover.    

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John Batchelor and I welcomed back DR. MICHAEL HECHT, the PI of the MOXIE experiment on the Perseverance Rover.  Our guest talked about MOXIE making oxygen from the Martian atmosphere.  He described how he did it, the chemical breakdown of the MOXIE output, how to scale up production for more people, the oxygen production rate per hour and more.  The process was discussed in the context of how plants convert CO2 to O2 though he did not say that MOXIE was carrying out photosynthesis like what a plant does.  John also asked our guest about living in sealed lava tubes under the surface of Mars, using MOXIE type equipment for the new "Martians" survival needs, plus the need for rocket fuel and other oxygen needs and uses. 

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You can email Mr. Batchelor Dr. Hecht through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com. Dr. Hecht can also be reached through his Haystack Observatory website page.