Nasa is planning to make oxygen from the atmosphere on Mars when its next robot arrives on the mysterious red planet in 2020.

Scientists will send microbial life - possibly algae or bacteria - on the 2020 Rover mission in a bid to create air fit for human consumption.

They aim to feed the microorganisms in Martian soil in the hope that they will pump out oxygen as a byproduct.

It could then be made available for breathing or used as rocket fuel to power return flights to Earth.

If the experiment is successful it will mark a major step towards making Mars habitable for human colonies in the future.

Mars's atmosphere contains just 0.13% oxygen, compared with 21% on Earth.

Nasa Acting Chief Administrator Robert Lightfoot told Futurism: "Mars 2020, has an experiment where we are going to try and actually generate oxygen out of the atmosphere on Mars, clearly that’s for human capability down the road."

The US government department also has plans to build a magnetic shield around Mars and to install a nuclear reactor on the planet.

Space in perspective: this is how big the Earth really is compared to the other planets in our Solar System Show all 7 1 /7 Space in perspective: this is how big the Earth really is compared to the other planets in our Solar System Space in perspective: this is how big the Earth really is compared to the other planets in our Solar System Saturn "Jupiter holds the title for being the biggest planet in the solar system, but Saturn is no tiddler," says amateur astronomer John Brady, who made these composite images. Like shoulder pads (or a massive hat) those rings let it dress up and seem even bigger than it is - but you could still fit some 764 Earths inside the planet itself. Space in perspective: this is how big the Earth really is compared to the other planets in our Solar System Saturn's Rings The rings themselves are made up of billions of bits of ice and rock debris, ranging in size from tiny grains to mountain-sized chunks. There's a number of gaps in the rings, some of which are patrolled by moons sweep a clear path through the junk like bodyguards, while others -like the largest gap, the Cassini Division - are caused by gravitional resonances between debris and those same moons. Space in perspective: this is how big the Earth really is compared to the other planets in our Solar System Neutron Star There isn't actually a Neutron Star in our Solar System - but we should be thankful for that. It's only 20km across (shown here sitting on the North West coast of England) but has 1.5 times the mass of our Sun - just a teaspoon of the material would weigh more than a billion tonnes. They also spin incredibly fast - faster than a kitchen blender, rotating as quickly as 716 times a second. Space in perspective: this is how big the Earth really is compared to the other planets in our Solar System The Sun Here comes the Sun: it makes up 99.86 per cent of the Solar System's entire mass and puts out more energy in a single second than humans have ever produced in our entire history. All the planets are in fact just byproducts from the Sun's formation and when it goes, we go with it - though that won't be for another 7.6 billion years. Space in perspective: this is how big the Earth really is compared to the other planets in our Solar System Olympus Mons Some of Mars' geographical features dwarf those of Earth. Olympus Mons isn't just the biggest volcano on the planet, it's bigger than any in the Solar System and in this image dwarfs the state of Arizona. Planetary geologists think Mons' massive size is to do with the lack of active plate tectonics on Mars. This means that magma can continually erupt in the same spot without moving. It's so big that it's tough to know how to measure it, but it's generally agreed it's at least 22km high - nearly three times taller than Mount Everest. Space in perspective: this is how big the Earth really is compared to the other planets in our Solar System Mars And here's Mars itself against the same portion of North America. As Brady points out, this shows that you could fly half way around Mars in around eight hours - though of course you'd need an incredibly light plane as Mars' atmospher is only 1 per cent as thick as Earth's. "Earth’s rusty neighbour in the solar system is the second smallest of the planets, Mercury being smallest," says Brady. "The actual dry land mass of Mars is around the same as Earth’s, because although Mars is much smaller it doesn’t of course have any seas." Space in perspective: this is how big the Earth really is compared to the other planets in our Solar System Jupiter Canada and the US combined are dwarfed on the surface of Jupiter - the biggest planet in the solar system, with a total mass greater than all the other planets and moons put together. "Jupiter is the king of the solar system," says Brady. "It's over 11 times the diameter of our planet, with lightning bolts up to 1,000 times more powerful than Earth’s, and wind speeds in the upper atmosphere that can reach 100 metres per second. This planet races around in just 10 hours compared to Earth’s 24, making it the fastest rotating planet in the solar system."

They hope to launch a lunar space station near the Moon that could act as a starting point for missions to the rest of the solar system.

Mr Lightfoot said it was a logical next step after the success of the International Space Station, adding: "When you look at our plans today [for getting to Mars], we use the International Space Station as much as we can."