Thanks to the ongoing success of the Mars Curiosity rover mission, NASA are planning two similar trips to the Red Planet in 2016 and 2020. Details of the latter mission were announced earlier this week, with seven specialised instruments to be included in the exploration vehicle to carry out 'unprecedented' tests and investigations

Perhaps the most interesting of the instruments is the The Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (or MOXIE). The experiment will produce oxygen from carbon dioxide in Mars' atmosphere. Michael Hecht from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will be the principal investigator for MOXIE.

According to James Reuther of the Space Technology Mission Directorate, "we are excited that NASA's Space Technology Program is partnered with Human Exploration and the Mars 2020 Rover Team to demonstrate our abilities to harvest the Mars atmosphere and convert its abundant carbon dioxide to pure oxygen. This technology demonstration will pave the way for more affordable human missions to Mars where oxygen is needed for life support and rocket propulsion."

You can read about the other payload instruments and NASA's plans for the mission on their website.