Perseverance Rover Made Oxygen on Mars

New feat to the credit of Perseverance: the NASA rover transformed carbon dioxide from Mars' atmosphere into oxygen, a first on another planet, the US space agency announced on Wednesday.

"This is a crucial first attempt to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen on Mars," said Jim Reuter, an associate administrator at NASA. The demonstration took place on April 20 and NASA is hoping that future versions of the experimental tool used can pave the way for exploration by humans. Not only could the process produce oxygen for future astronauts to breathe, it could also prevent the large amounts of oxygen needed to propel the rocket on the return trip from Earth.