We know how plants make oxygen, why can’t we automate that process and not worry about losing plants?

Question

We know how plants make oxygen, why can’t we automate that process and not worry about losing plants?

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Answer 1

We can and NASA have recently created oxygen on Mars.

I’d imagine it costs more than a plant does. In addition, plants pick up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which isn’t necessarily replicated with every oxygen producing technique.

Might be more complex effects we rely on plants for, I’ll let smarter posters fill in the gaps.