Scientists have developed a more efficient way to generate oxygen for astronauts that could help with future missions into deep space.

Current life-support systems such as those on the International Space Station (ISS) rely on bulky centrifuges to separate the oxygen and hydrogen bubbles created when water is split by electricity, a process known as electrolysis. On Earth, bubbles rise away from electrodes, but in microgravity, spinning is required to separate them. This method works, but the equipment is heavy, power-hungry and is ill-suited for long-duration missions to the moon or Mars.

A new study led by Alvaro Romero-Calvo of the Georgia Institute of Technology, in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Bremen’s Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) and the University of Warwick, has demonstrated a simpler, lighter and more sustainable solution in the form of magnets.