As protagonist Mark Watney quite rightly state inThe Martian , our ambition to establish a human base on the Red Planet will depend entirely on our power to “ science the sh*t out of it . ” have up that very challenge , researchers have successfully grown algae in Mars - like conditions , potentially pave the manner for a life - support system on Mars .
The likes of NASA and SpaceX have made it abundantly clear that they plan tosend hoi polloi to Marsin the near future , yet the logistical challenge of sustaining human life story on our neighboring planet are Brobdingnagian . ravish oxygen and food all the way from Earth would be impractical , so set up a means of producing these topically is imperative .
A class of microorganisms called cyanobacteria have long been consider excellent candidates for this intention , as they get oxygen via photosynthesis while also turning gases like nitrogen and carbon dioxide into nutrients that can sustain plant living . Mars ’s atmosphere turn back both of these accelerator , so scientists believe that cyanobacteria could be used to prop up up living ecosystems on theMartian surface .
However , because the atmospheric pressure on Mars is just a fraction of that on Earth , liquid water can not exist and cyanobacteria are unable to grow . build bioreactors that mime Earth ’s atmospherical conditions could potentially solve this job , yet would rely on gases transported from our abode satellite .
The study authors , therefore , attempt to enquire if cyanobacteria can be develop using only resources that are usable on Mars , thereby eliminating the penury to channelise materials from Earth .
save in the journalFrontiers in Microbiology , they describe the cultivation of a type of algae calledAnabaena cyanobacteriain a especially design bioreactor , which they have labeled Atmos .
Consisting of nine pressure - control bedchamber , Atmos allowed the researchers to grow the cyanobacteria under Mars - like conditions . Importantly , the mintage was found to develop “ vigorously ” when cultivate in an atmosphere lie in of 96 per centum atomic number 7 and four percent carbon copy dioxide , at a pressure of 100 hPa – about one - one-tenth of the Earth ’s atmospheric pressure .
piss was also let in in the bioreactor , but this could be obtained on Mars from the abundant ice that covers parts of the planet .
In astatement , study author Cyprien Verseux explained that “ cyanobacteria can use gases uncommitted in the Martian atmosphere , at a low total pressure , as their source of carbon copy and nitrogen , ” summate that “ this could help make long - terminal figure missions to Mars sustainable . ”
As a next gradation , the researchers recreated Martian regolith – which is a bed of junk found on the planet ’s surface – and used this as their substratum for growing cyanobacteria .
Once again , the alga was found to grow comparatively successfully , though not quite as well as it did in more conventional growing mediums . After 28 twenty-four hour period , sample uprise in a Mars - like atmosphere and regolith produced about half as much chlorophyl as those cultivated under the same consideration but in regular soils .
in the end , the researchers used the resultantAnabaena cyanobacteriaas a substrate for growingE. colibacteria . Such organism are easy bioengineered and can be used to create sure foods and medicines , but ca n’t grow on Mars .
Results indicated thatE.colican be produce on driedAnabaena cyanobacteriathat has been produced under Martian conditions , indicating that the coinage could be used to digest the growth of other acculturation on Mars .
While all of this is pretty exciting , Verseux insists that “ our bioreactor , Atmos , is not the cultivation organisation we would use on Mars : it is meant to test , on Earth , the conditions we would provide there . ”
“ But our results will aid guide the excogitation of a Martian cultivation system of rules . ”
