--- title: "New System Separates Oxygen From Salty Martian Water" description: "Researchers have developed a system that could pull significant amounts of oxygen and hydrogen out of the briny water present on Mars." date: "2020-11-30" modified: "2020-11-30" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/system-separates-oxygen-salty-martian-water" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "electrolysis" - "mars" - "martian ice" - "the digest" --- # New System Separates Oxygen From Salty Martian Water ![Researchers have developed a system that could pull significant amounts of oxygen and hydrogen out of the briny water present on Mars.]() *\Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona\* ## Martian Electrolyzer Researchers from Washington University in St Louis believe they have figured out a new system that could pull significant amounts of oxygen and hydrogen out of the [briny water deposits present]() on the surface of Mars. The electrolysis process could even improve similar systems on Earth, they say. "Our Martian brine electrolyzer radically changes the logistical calculus of missions to Mars and beyond," Vijay Ramani, chemical engineering professor at Washington University in St Louis and co-author of [the paper]() appearing in the journal *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences* today, said in [a statement](). "This technology is equally useful on Earth where it opens up the oceans as a viable oxygen and fuel source." ## Test Rig To simulate the Martian surface, the team tested the system at -33 degrees Fahrenheit. The results were impressive. The system can produce 25 times the amount of oxygen as the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) fixed to NASA's Perseverance rover, which is headed to Mars right now, according to the team. Strangely enough, the impurities present in Martian water could actually end up helping. "They prevent the water from freezing and also improve the performance of the electrolyzer system by lowering the electrical resistance," research scientist and co-lead author of the paper Shrihari Sankarasubramanian said in the statement. ## Air on Demand The team is now planning to deploy the system to produce hydrogen and oxygen from impure salt water feeds back on Earth. Oxygen from such a system could end up creating oxygen on demand in submarines or other deep sea exploration vessels. **READ MORE:** [New tech can get oxygen, fuel from Mars's salty water]() \[Washington University in St. Louis\] **More on Martian water:** *[Scientists Just Found Three More Reservoirs of Liquid Water on Mars]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()