NASA has plans to put water on the moon and oxygen Mars by 2020

Photograph by Thomas Bresson

NASA has proposed missions to demonstrate how to make water on the moon and oxygen on Mars.

The plans are part of a strategy of space exploration that relies on native resources in order to make rocket fuel for the return trip from the non-earth body.

For every kilogram that NASA does not have to launch from earth, the same weight can be used to bring back “intelligent mass” from another body, such as experiments or other objects in a process known as “in-situ resource utilization” or IRSU.

The first IRSU test is scheduled for 2018 with NASA planning to launch the “Resource Prospector” mission that will include a rover and instruments to look for hydrogen and water on the moon.

The moon is just the first target for IRSU missions, however, with another initiative planned to reach Mars in 2020 that would use carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, filter out the dust and other debris, and use a chemical process to turn that into oxygen that could be used for other purposes.

The possibilities of IRSU mean that, if successful, NASA and other space agencies can start changing their approach to space travel.