Using astronaut urine and solar energy to create fuel on Mars

Engineers are working on a system that converts astronaut urine into fuel on Mars using solar energy.

It sounds like the plot in a sci-fi movie, but if humans live on Mars, this means making the most of all available resources including urine.

Towards that end, scientists recently came up with the idea of ​​a system that uses sunlight to produce fuel from urine.

The reactor gets its energy from sunlight and astronauts' urine.

Initially, scientists will apply the test to astronauts on a mission to explore Mars.

The fuel needed to run the first reactor to produce fuel on Mars uses the planet's atmosphere, which is 95% CO2.

The reactor gets its energy from sunlight and astronauts' urine. "The results of the test provide valuable input on the production of fuel on Mars," said Jean-Christophe Berton, European Space Agency's technical officer for the project.

A team from the Spanish technology center Tekniker is working on studying the system.

The US space agency NASA plans to carry out a mission to send humans to Mars in the 2030s.

One of the biggest hurdles to a manned mission to Mars is the pressure of having to transport 30 tons of liquid methane and oxygen to power the return rockets, which are estimated to cost around $8 billion. USD.

There are currently several ideas for producing fuel for spacecraft right on the red planet.

In October 2021, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology proposed a method to use natural resources found on the Martian surface to grow bacteria, which can be converted into fuel.

Huge optical reactors on Mars use sunlight and carbon dioxide to create cyanobacteria that make sugar. E. coli bacteria that have been transported from Earth will convert those sugars into Mars rocket-specific propellant.

In 2020, the team from Washington University in St. Louis also developed a system that turns unusable salt water on Mars into fuel and oxygen.