Researchers have found a new way to convert methane into rocket fuel on Mars – by adding crucial flexibility to future astronaut missions to the Red Planet, according to a recent blog post on the official University of California, Irvine (UCI) website.
RELATED: LIFE ON MARS: SCIENTISTS ARE SLIGHTLY CLOSER TO SOLVING THE METHANE MYSTERY ON MARS
Scientists are creating a new way to convert methane into rocket fuel on Mars
Elon Musk and other engineers at SpaceX theorized such a method while looking for ways to combine water from ice on Mars with carbon dioxide to obtain enough carbon and hydrogen for the production of methane.
Once astronauts reach Mars, they can use this method to convert local matter from the Red Planet, such as carbon dioxide and ice, into rocket fuel – primed and ready to launch humans on a return trip to Earth.
Although it was only a “proof of concept” at the time of writing, the new method has passed laboratory testing. “[L]Much engineering and research is needed before this can be fully implemented, “said University of California, Irvine physicist Huolin Xin, in a statement. But the results are very promising. “
Reduce the process in two steps to one
To develop the new method, the team switched to an existing two-step method that has been proven to convert water into breathing oxygen on the International Space Station (ISS) – and worked to reduce this to one step. A single atom zinc catalyst made it possible.
“The zinc is essentially a great catalyst,” Xin said in the statement. “It has time, selectivity and portability – a big plus for space travel.”
By reducing the two-step process to one, the researchers created a more portable and compact method – stripped for transport and use on the Red Planet, Xin said.
New process must be square with future propulsion technology
In the new methodology, atomically dispersed zinc plays the catalyst of the same reaction, forging methane from carbon dioxide. This reaction through a specialized catalyst “efficiently converts CO2 into methane,” added Xin.
Modern vehicles generally do not use methane-based rocket fuel, which means that this new process must be compatible with future propulsion technologies.
SpaceX, Blue Origin is already working on methane-based rocket fuel
However, the advantages methane-based fuels have over liquid hydrogen – Boeing and Lockheed’s go-to fuel – are many. Liquid hydrogen fuel, for example, leaves a carbon residue on rocket engines that need to be cleaned up before later use, and on Mars it won’t always be easy to step out of the proverbial front door to clear the mess.
However, some companies already endorse the new method – and are committed to the methane-based rocket fuel. SpaceX’s Raptor engines on Starship, Firefly Alpha, and Blue Origin’s BE-4 all have their sights set on methane-based rocket fuel, just to name a few.