Mining moon &amp; mars with microbes: Biological approaches to extract iron from Lunar and Martian regolith

Volger, R.; Pettersson, Gustav M.; Brouns, Stan J. J.; Rothschild, Lynn J.; Cowley, Aidan; Lehner, Benjamin

doi:10.1016/j.pss.2020.104850

Cited by 28 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Beyond Earth, the same processes could be applied on other planetary bodies, for example on the Moon or Mars ( Cockell, 2010 , 2011 ; Montague et al, 2012 ; Menezes et al, 2015 ; Jerez, 2017 ; Volger et al, 2020 ), allowing in situ resource utilization (ISRU). To successfully expand biomining beyond Earth, we need to gain knowledge of how altered gravity conditions, such as microgravity, lunar gravity and Martian gravity, change microbial interactions with minerals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbially-Enhanced Vanadium Mining and Bioremediation Under Micro- and Mars Gravity on the International Space Station

et al. 2021

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As humans explore and settle in space, they will need to mine elements to support industries such as manufacturing and construction. In preparation for the establishment of permanent human settlements across the Solar System, we conducted the ESA BioRock experiment on board the International Space Station to investigate whether biological mining could be accomplished under extraterrestrial gravity conditions. We tested the hypothesis that the gravity (g) level influenced the efficacy with which biomining could be achieved from basalt, an abundant material on the Moon and Mars, by quantifying bioleaching by three different microorganisms under microgravity, simulated Mars and Earth gravitational conditions. One element of interest in mining is vanadium (V), which is added to steel to fabricate high strength, corrosion-resistant structural materials for buildings, transportation, tools and other applications. The results showed that Sphingomonas desiccabilis and Bacillus subtilis enhanced the leaching of vanadium under the three gravity conditions compared to sterile controls by 184.92 to 283.22%, respectively. Gravity did not have a significant effect on mean leaching, thus showing the potential for biomining on Solar System objects with diverse gravitational conditions. Our results demonstrate the potential to use microorganisms to conduct elemental mining and other bioindustrial processes in space locations with non-1 × g gravity. These same principles apply to extraterrestrial bioremediation and elemental recycling beyond Earth.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbially-Enhanced Vanadium Mining and Bioremediation Under Micro- and Mars Gravity on the International Space Station

et al. 2021

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“…Nevertheless, they should at least be briefly mentioned as they are important strategies for bio-ISRU. Several microorganisms have been utilized in proof-of-concept experiments for biomining on Earth, as well as the proving-ground of the International Space Station (Johnson, 2014;Schippers et al, 2014;Jerez, 2017;Loudon et al, 2018;Cockell et al, 2020;Volger et al, 2020;Cockell et al, 2021). In particular, Acidithiobacillus ferroxidans, Cupriavidus metallidurans, Shewanella oneidensis and Sphingomonas desiccabilis are promising, most of these species performing chemolithotrophic leaching.…”

Section: Organisms With High Potential For Bio-isru On Marsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Approaches draw from all domains of life, employing microbes as well as higher organisms, with applications ranging from production and recovery of resources, (e.g. generation of oxygen, food and materials, biomining, wastewater recycling), to providing shelter and protection, as far as generation of energy and even terraforming (Kalkus et al, 2018;Llorente et al, 2018;Hastings and Nangle, 2019;Lopez et al, 2019;Shunk et al, 2020;Volger et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Choice of Microbial System for In-Situ Resource Utilization on Mars

Averesch

2021

Front. Astron. Space Sci.

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Various microbial systems have been explored for their applicability to in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU) on Mars and suitability to leverage Martian resources and convert them into useful chemical products. Considering only fully bio-based solutions, two approaches can be distinguished, which comes down to the form of carbon that is being utilized: (a) the deployment of specialised species that can directly convert inorganic carbon (atmospheric CO2) into a target compound or (b) a two-step process that relies on independent fixation of carbon and the subsequent conversion of biomass and/or complex substrates into a target compound. Due to the great variety of microbial metabolism, especially in conjunction with chemical support-processes, a definite classification is often difficult. This can be expanded to the forms of nitrogen and energy that are available as input for a biomanufacturing platform. To provide a perspective on microbial cell factories that may be suitable for Space Systems Bioengineering, a high-level comparison of different approaches is conducted, specifically regarding advantages that may help to extend an early human foothold on the red planet.

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“…The bacterium Shewanella oneidensis, which was shown to be feasible for space-based biomining applications [18], can reduce a variety of metal oxides under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions [19,20]. Martian regolith contains a high concentration of iron in the form of Fe(III) [21] that can be reduced to Fe(II) by S. oneidensis, promoting the precipitation of magnetite which can subsequently be extracted magnetically [22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Iron can be microbially extracted from Lunar and Martian regolith simulants and 3D printed into tough structural materials

et al. 2021

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In-situ resource utilization (ISRU) is increasingly acknowledged as an essential requirement for the construction of sustainable extra-terrestrial colonies. Even with decreasing launch costs, the ultimate goal of establishing colonies must be the usage of resources found at the destination of interest. Typical approaches towards ISRU are often constrained by the mass and energy requirements of transporting processing machineries, such as rovers and massive reactors, and the vast amount of consumables needed. Application of self-reproducing bacteria for the extraction of resources is a promising approach to reduce these pitfalls. In this work, the bacterium Shewanella oneidensis was used to reduce three different types of Lunar and Martian regolith simulants, allowing for the magnetic extraction of iron-rich materials. The combination of bacterial treatment and magnetic extraction resulted in a 5.8-times higher quantity of iron and 43.6% higher iron concentration compared to solely magnetic extraction. The materials were 3D printed into cylinders and the mechanical properties were tested, resulting in a 400% improvement in compressive strength in the bacterially treated samples. This work demonstrates a proof of concept for the on-demand production of construction and replacement parts in space exploration.

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Mining moon & mars with microbes: Biological approaches to extract iron from Lunar and Martian regolith

Cited by 28 publications

References 48 publications

Microbially-Enhanced Vanadium Mining and Bioremediation Under Micro- and Mars Gravity on the International Space Station

Microbially-Enhanced Vanadium Mining and Bioremediation Under Micro- and Mars Gravity on the International Space Station

Choice of Microbial System for In-Situ Resource Utilization on Mars

Iron can be microbially extracted from Lunar and Martian regolith simulants and 3D printed into tough structural materials

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