Methane-based rocket fuel can be made on MARS in a one-step process that uses zinc and a small portable device, physicist claims.
- Experts have come up with a plan that will give astronauts enough fuel to return from Mars to Earth – by creating methane-based fuel on the surface of the Red Planet.
- Physicists use materials found on Mars, such as zinc and carbon dioxide
- Zinc would be used as a catalyst to cause a reaction in the carbon dioxide
- This would then start the process to make the methane-based fuel
- Other processes have suggested using 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 have enough fuel to travel back to Earth from Mars?
The idea of making methane-based fuel on the red planet has been floating around in the scientific community for years, but many are proposing methods that require large facilities and multiple steps.
Now Houlin Xin and his team at UCI came up with a process that uses a single-atom zinc catalyst, allowing just one step with a small portable device.
This method anatomically disperses zinc to act as a synthetic enzyme that catalyzes carbon dioxide, both of which are found on Mars, to start the process of making methane-based fuel.
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Physicists at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) have solved an urgent problem for space travelers: How can astronauts have enough fuel to travel back to Earth from Mars?
The idea of making methane on Mars to fuel returning rockets was initially conceived by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
SpaceX’s Raptor rocket that will power Starships traveling to Mars runs on methane, and Musk is developing ways to refuel his rockets for the return trip to Earth.
Musk proposes using a solar infrastructure to generate electricity, resulting in the electrolysis of carbon dioxide, which when mixed with water from the ice on Mars, produces methane.
This is the same method, called the Sabatier process, used on the International Space Station to convert water into breathing oxygen for astronauts.
The idea of making methane-based fuel on the red planet has been floating around in the scientific community for years, but many of the proposed methods require large facilities and multiple steps
The idea of making methane on Mars to fuel returning rockets was initially conceived by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. SpaceX’s Raptor rocket (pictured), set to power spaceships traveling to Mars, runs on methane
The Sabatier process uses a nickel catalyst to interact with hydrogen and carbon dioxide at extremely high temperatures and pressures – a two-stage procedure that must be performed in a large facility.
And while Xin is successful in the massive orbit lab, he knows it’s not efficient on Mars.
His process requires less space and can work with materials, such as zinc and carbon dioxide, on the Red Planet, as well as in the extreme environment.
“The process we developed bypasses the water-to-hydrogen process and instead efficiently converts CO2 into high-selectivity methane,” said Xin.
Now Houlin Xin and his team at UCI have come up with a process that uses a single-atom zinc catalyst, allowing for just one step with a small portable device. This method anatomically disperses zinc to act as a synthetic enzyme that catalyzes carbon dioxide, both of which are found on Mars, to start the process of making methane-based fuel.
The key to the new and simpler method is the discovery that zinc is used as a catalyst.
“The zinc is essentially a great catalyst,” Xin said.
“It has time, selectivity and portability – a big plus for space travel.”
Despite the breakthrough, the process developed by Xin is still a ‘proof of concept’, meaning it has been successfully produced in a laboratory, but has yet to be performed in real-life conditions.
“A lot of engineering and research is needed before this can be fully implemented,” he says. “But the results are very promising.”