Integration of lessons from recent research for “Earth to Mars” life support systems

Nelson, Mark D.; Dempster, William F.; Allen, John P.

doi:10.1016/j.asr.2007.02.075

Cited by 34 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…While plants enable a primary means of reclaiming oxygen from carbon dioxide, purifying water through transpiration filtering, and providing edible biomass, bacteria, fungi, and cyanobacteria are also candidates for performing a variety of processes, including vitamin production, water recycling, air decontamination, and waste management (91,175,222). Many challenges exist in creating a stable mix of biological agents capable of providing sustainable, controlled life support functions in a closed system (184). Use of a lunar outpost as an operational test bed is one possibility for validating the inclusion and verifying the performance of a biologically based life support system intended for a future Mars habitat.…”

Section: Applied Aspectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Space Microbiology

Horneck

Klaus

Mancinelli

2010

Microbiol Mol Biol Rev

559

489

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SUMMARY The responses of microorganisms (viruses, bacterial cells, bacterial and fungal spores, and lichens) to selected factors of space (microgravity, galactic cosmic radiation, solar UV radiation, and space vacuum) were determined in space and laboratory simulation experiments. In general, microorganisms tend to thrive in the space flight environment in terms of enhanced growth parameters and a demonstrated ability to proliferate in the presence of normally inhibitory levels of antibiotics. The mechanisms responsible for the observed biological responses, however, are not yet fully understood. A hypothesized interaction of microgravity with radiation-induced DNA repair processes was experimentally refuted. The survival of microorganisms in outer space was investigated to tackle questions on the upper boundary of the biosphere and on the likelihood of interplanetary transport of microorganisms. It was found that extraterrestrial solar UV radiation was the most deleterious factor of space. Among all organisms tested, only lichens (Rhizocarpon geographicum and Xanthoria elegans) maintained full viability after 2 weeks in outer space, whereas all other test systems were inactivated by orders of magnitude. Using optical filters and spores of Bacillus subtilis as a biological UV dosimeter, it was found that the current ozone layer reduces the biological effectiveness of solar UV by 3 orders of magnitude. If shielded against solar UV, spores of B. subtilis were capable of surviving in space for up to 6 years, especially if embedded in clay or meteorite powder (artificial meteorites). The data support the likelihood of interplanetary transfer of microorganisms within meteorites, the so-called lithopanspermia hypothesis.

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Section: Applied Aspectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Space Microbiology

Horneck

Klaus

Mancinelli

2010

Microbiol Mol Biol Rev

559

489

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“…It is necessary to design methods to remove or reduce salinity toxicity (e.g. testing previous leaching treatments) but also improve the fertility level of Martian regolith through the incorporation of organic matter recycled Extreme salinity as a challenge to grow potatoes under Mars-like soil conditions 21 from solid waste composting activities from the human habitat (Silverstone et al 2003;Nelson et al 2008). The use of microorganisms to degrade organic matter (Kanazawa et al 2008) and process remnant salt components (Matsubara et al 2017), including nanoparticles for soil remediation (Patra et al 2016), will be important for a sustainable SBA in Mars.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although, BFS were mainly focused on artificial growing medias (hydroponics, aeroponics, zeoponics, membrane systems), soil-based agriculture (SBA, i.e. using real soil growing media) has become increasingly relevant, achieving even higher productivity in some crops (Nelson et al 2008). Some authors (Silverstone et al 2003;Kanazawa et al 2008;Maggi & Pallud 2010) have pointed out that SBA using in-situ available resource of Martian surface is an important way to guarantee long-term sustainability for the future Martian colony.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this context, the use of terrestrial analogues of Martian surface constitutes an important effort to know and solve limitations to get SBA in the future (e.g. Silverstone et al 2003Silverstone et al , 2005Kanazawa et al 2008;Nelson et al 2008). Mars-like soils on Earth provide a better understanding the physical, geochemical and microbiological processes that occur, or could have occurred, on Mars (Peters et al 2008;Valdivia-Silva et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Extreme salinity as a challenge to grow potatoes under Mars-like soil conditions: targeting promising genotypes

Ramírez

Kreuze

Amorós

et al. 2017

International Journal of Astrobiology

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One of the future challenges to produce food in a Mars environment will be the optimization of resources through the potential use of the Martian substratum for growing crops as a part of bioregenerative food systems. In vitro plantlets from 65 potato genotypes were rooted in peat-pellets substratum and transplanted in pots filled with Mars-like soil from La Joya desert in Southern Peru. The Mars-like soil was characterized by extreme salinity (an electric conductivity of 19.3 and 52.6 dS m −1 under 1 : 1 and saturation extract of the soil solution, respectively) and plants grown in it were under sub-optimum physiological status indicated by average maximum stomatal conductance <50 mmol H 2 O m −2 s −1 even after irrigation. 40% of the genotypes survived and yielded (0.3-5.2 g tuber plant −1 ) where CIP.397099.4, CIP.396311.1 and CIP.390478.9 were targeted as promising materials with 9.3, 8.9 and 5.8% of fresh tuber yield in relation to the control conditions. A combination of appropriate genotypes and soil management will be crucial to withstand extreme salinity, a problem also important in agriculture on Earth that requires more detailed follow-up studies.

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“…Interestingly, all of the nutrients needed to grow plants (C, H, N, O, P, S, K, Mg, Fe, Na, Ca and micronutrients) seem to be present on Mars. Banin (1989) proposed using Martian regolith to grow plants and this approach is still under investigation (e.g., Silverstone et al 2003Silverstone et al , 2005Nelson et al 2008;Maggi & Pallud 2010;Wamelink et al 2014). However, even though Martian regolith is mostly basaltic and weathered basalt can yield extremely productive soils on Earth (Dahlgren et al 1993), regolith will require physicochemical and/or biological treatment before it can be used as a growth substrate for plants.…”

Section: Supporting Plant Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable life support on Mars – the potential roles of cyanobacteria

Verseux

Baqué

Lehto

et al. 2015

International Journal of Astrobiology

139

136

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Even though technological advances could allow humans to reach Mars in the coming decades, launch costs prohibit the establishment of permanent manned outposts for which most consumables would be sent from Earth. This issue can be addressed by in situ resource utilization: producing part or all of these consumables on Mars, from local resources. Biological components are needed, among other reasons because various resources could be efficiently produced only by the use of biological systems. But most plants and microorganisms are unable to exploit Martian resources, and sending substrates from Earth to support their metabolism would strongly limit the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of their cultivation. However, resources needed to grow specific cyanobacteria are available on Mars due to their photosynthetic abilities, nitrogen-fixing activities and lithotrophic lifestyles. They could be used directly for various applications, including the production of food, fuel and oxygen, but also indirectly: products from their culture could support the growth of other organisms, opening the way to a wide range of life-support biological processes based on Martian resources. Here we give insights into how and why cyanobacteria could play a role in the development of self-sustainable manned outposts on Mars.

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Integration of lessons from recent research for “Earth to Mars” life support systems

Cited by 34 publications

References 22 publications

Space Microbiology

Space Microbiology

Extreme salinity as a challenge to grow potatoes under Mars-like soil conditions: targeting promising genotypes

Sustainable life support on Mars – the potential roles of cyanobacteria

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