NASA has launched a public competition seeking novel ways to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into useful compounds that would help astronauts survive on the red planet.
When astronauts begin exploring Mars, they’ll need to use local resources, freeing up launch cargo space for other mission-critical supplies. CO2 is one resource readily abundant within the Martian atmosphere.
NASA’s new CO2 Conversion Challenge, conducted under the Centennial Challenges programme, aims to help find a solution. The space agency is asking the public to help discover ways to develop novel synthesis technologies that use CO2 as the sole carbon source to generate molecules that can be used to manufacture a variety of products, including “substrates” for use in microbial bioreactors.
Such technologies will allow NASA to manufacture products using local, indigenous resources on Mars, and can also be implemented on Earth by using both waste and atmospheric carbon dioxide as a resource.
... to continue reading you must be subscribed
