The Electrolysis of Martian Brines: Production of Hydrogen Fuel and Life Support Oxygen on the Red Planet

Academy of Science – Zoom, St. Louis, MO United States

FREE and OPEN to ALL. Junior Academy members, middle and high school students welcome and encouraged to attend. Space is limited. Registration required! Register below for Zoom link to join this event. Event link sent w/confirmation email.

Featured Speaker: Vijay Ramani, Ph.D., Roma B. & Raymond H. Wittcoff Distinguished University Professor of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering, McKelvey School of Engineering; Director, Center for Solar Energy and Energy Storage; Faculty Fellow for Entrepreneurship, Washington University in St. Louis

There is increasing interest from NASA and others on manned missions to Mars, which raises the question of in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) to minimize what needs to be carried on board the spacecraft at launch. Recent reports have suggested the presence of deposits of regolith brines (salt water) on Mars. Chemical engineer, Vijay Ramani, shares a novel approach to fuel and oxygen generation on the Martian surface through brine electrolysis.

“Our Martian brine electrolyzer radically changes the logistical calculus of missions to Mars and beyond. This technology is equally useful on Earth where it opens up the oceans as a viable oxygen and fuel source.”
—Vijay Ramani, the source

The Electrolysis of Martian Brines is a NASA Connection special partnership series of The Academy of Science – St. Louis and the NASA SOLAR SYSTEM AMBASSADORS – Southern Illinois. The NASA Connection Series is underwritten in part with support from Boeing and the Employees Community Fund of Boeing St. Louis, sponsoring the full array of Academy STEM Teens programming.