Development of a revolutionary implementation of the Bosch process using ionic liquids (IL) that can theoretically achieve 100% oxygen recovery save over a ton of mass resupply over a 3-year Martian surface mission. Life Support systems for long duration life support must be highly reliable, robust against environmentally-induced failures, and require limited resupply and crew interaction. An oxygen recovery system on ISS recovers ~50% of the oxygen from this CO2 and recycles it back to the crew, thereby reducing the required resupply of O2 from Earth. Future missions will require a minimum of 75% oxygen recovery with a target of >90% oxygen recovery from metabolic CO2 to limit resupply mass and logistical requirements.
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