In this image, the gold-plated Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) Instrument shines after being installed inside the Perseverance rover. The largest white tube on the top surface of MOXIE takes in filtered carbon dioxide-rich Martian atmosphere. That CO2 is pressurized and passed through the Solid Oxide Electrolysis unit, where it is split into carbon monoxide and oxygen. The smallest tube snaking across the top of the unit sends the oxygen produced by MOXIE through a composition sensor to measure purity, then vents the oxygen out to the Martian atmosphere. This technology demonstration may guide the design of future, larger devices that could enable human exploration of Mars.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California built and will manage operations of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover for NASA.

For more information about the mission, go to: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020.