Starry-eyed explorers have long dreamed of life on Mars. But despite similarities between the Big Blue Marble (Earth) and the Red Planet (Mars), differences currently make habitation unlikely. Now a resourceful engineer has a plan—he’s invented a machine that could pull water from Martian air.
H.G. Wells’ 1897 novel The War of the Worlds ignited human curiosity about Mars. Since its publication, scientists have dreamed of traveling there. Amazingly, the more scientists examine the possibility of life on another planet, the more obvious it becomes how perfectly God created Earth to suit humans’ needs.
Mars’ dry air is about 100 times thinner than Earth’s. It contains little oxygen, a necessity for human life. Scientists have already addressed the lack of oxygen with portable tanks. Mars is also quite dry. But there is an abundance of humidity, or water in the atmosphere in the form of gas.
Now an Egyptian mechatronics engineer (mechanical, electronic, robotic, and other types of engineering sciences) believes he has a solution to the Mars water problem.
Mahmoud Elkoumy devised a robot called ELU. The bot compresses humid air into water droplets. The water runs through a five-step filtration system and comes out of a spigot as clean, drinkable H20.
“I am ELU, a robot dedicated to exploring moisture on Mars and converting it into drinkable water,” says the machine in a very, well, robotic voice.
NASA’s Mars missions inspired the 28-year-old engineer. He built his robot to function in weather conditions similar to those of the Red Planet. That includes operation at a chilly -200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Until now, turning humidity into usable water has focused on Earth-bound systems. But Elkoumy says digging well and river extensions is costly. Other technologies used to generate water from air, including mechanical heat exchangers, are more expensive. They also consume more energy, according to the bot builder.
ELU’s low-cost technology can produce large amounts of clean water with less energy, Elkoumy says. The current process creates about four cups of water per day. But Elkoumy believes his invention can be scaled up.
The engineer spent nine months finalizing his designs. He says the self-financed robot costs about $250—a drop in the bucket for a Mars mission. The cost of generating a quarter gallon of water with ELU is between one and a half and two cents. That’s compared to 20 cents with other technologies.
Elkoumy envisions ELU used not just on Mars but in other arid areas with limited access to water.
Why? As humans consider obstacles to life on Mars, we are driven to appreciate God’s goodness and wisdom in creating Earth for human habitation.
Pray: For areas of the world without access to drinkable water and for creative problem-solvers with hearts to help others.
