AI powered ‘Chemist’ makes oxygen from Martian meteorites

Subject: Science and Tech

Section: Space technology

Context:

Oxygen Producing materials made from meteorites found on Mars have been produced using a robotic artificial intelligence (AI)-chemist.

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Jun Jiang from the University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China and others developed a robotic AI Chemist that is able to create catalysts that can be used to produce oxygen from Martian materials without human intervention.
Using a machine learning model derived from both first principles data and experimental measurements, this method automatically and rapidly identifies the optimal catalyst formula from more than three million possible compositions.
The trials on selected five different categories of meteorites that come from or have been confirmed to exist on Mars, which were analysed by the robotic AI chemist.
The robotic AI chemist was able to convert the meteorites into chemical compounds and make catalysts from these compounds before testing the catalysts’ oxygen production performance.
This process was repeated by the robot until the best catalyst had been found, which they suggest could have taken 2,000 years of human labour.
This catalyst could operate under simulated Martian conditions. The robotic AI chemist allows for the automated production of catalysts using Martian meteorites, which may lead to a way for humans to make oxygen on Mars in the future.

Key Points Related to Mars

Size and Distance:

It is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System.
Mars is about half the size of Earth.

Similarity to the Earth (Orbit and Rotation):

As Mars orbits the Sun, it completes one rotation every 24.6 hours, which is very similar to one day on Earth (23.9 hours).
Mars’ axis of rotation is tilted 25 degrees with respect to the plane of its orbit around the Sun. This is similar to Earth, which has an axial tilt of 23.4 degrees.
Mars has distinct seasons like Earth, but they last longer than seasons on Earth.
Martian days are called sols—short for ‘solar day’.

Other Features:

The reason Mars looks reddish is due to oxidation or rusting of iron in the rocks, and dust of Mars. Hence it is also called the Red Planet.
It has the largest volcano in the solar system i.e., Olympus Mons.
It has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos.

What are the Various Mars Missions?

NASA has a lander (Mars Insight), two rovers (Curiosity and Perseverance), and three orbiters (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Odyssey, MAVEN).
ExoMars rover (2021) (European Space Agency)
Tianwen-1: China’s Mars Mission (2021)
UAE’s Hope Mars Mission (UAE’s first-ever interplanetary mission) (2021)
India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) or Mangalyaan (2013)

AI­ powered ‘Chemist’ makes oxygen from Martian meteorites