Must Rust Refinery

The Mar's refinery explores the ethics of resource exploitation in outer space exploration. Made of upcycled craft materials, the refinery imagines a universe where the components of one of Mars' largest resources, rust, is turned into its core elements: iron and oxygen.

The search for life on Mars must not occur without ethical conversation about multiple matters including but not limited to the search for life on other planets, terraforming and planet preservation, and resource exploitation. The Mars Rust Refinery is a miniature Arduino-powered model which explores such issues by imagining a plausible future in which the large quantities of iron oxides found on Mars are turned into commercial products: iron and oxygen. Audience members are invited to turns knobs that activate the Refinery’s motors and play in the dirt and sand in the surrounding area.