Nasa has concluded its oxygen-generation experiment on Mars, with promising results for the future of space exploration.

Axar.az reports that the achievement was made by the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) device, which generated oxygen by converting carbon dioxide in periodic bouts over two years.

“MOXIE’s impressive performance shows that it is feasible to extract oxygen from Mars’ atmosphere oxygen that could help supply breathable air or rocket propellant to future astronauts,” said NASA deputy administrator Pam Melroy.

“Developing technologies that let us use resources on the Moon and Mars is critical to build a long-term lunar presence, create a robust lunar economy and allow us to support an initial human exploration campaign to Mars.”

At its peak, MOXIE created 12g of oxygen in an hour, which was double NASA’s aim, and it came in at least 98 per cent purity.