Sustainable life support on Mars – the potential roles of cyanobacteria

Abstract

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.

Desert breath—How fog promotes a novel type of soil biocenosis, forming the coastal Atacama Desert’s living skin

“…Thus, it can be deduced that the newly discovered grit–crust is well adapted to the arid conditions in the Atacama Desert, where water is solely available from fog and dew. The pronounced tolerance of the grit organisms against xeric stress has also been demonstrated for lichens such as Pleopsidium chlorophanum and Buellia species from Antarctica, which are reported to even acclimatize to Martian conditions (de Vera et al, ; Verseux et al, ), and which were both also found in the Las Lomitas grit–crust. Conditions in the Atacama Desert have indeed been compared to those on Mars and the very low water demands of the grit–crust community documented here supports the hypothesis (Verseux et al, ) about the extremophile character of these organisms, which may even be suitable candidates for extra‐terrestrial colonization and may have played a role shaping soils and the atmosphere on the ancient Earth.…”

The Theory and Economics of MARS and MOON Colonization: Steps and Policy Advocacy

“…Some scientists think that cyanobacteria could play a role in the development of self-sustainable way on Mars. They propose that cyanobacteria 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 (Verseux et al, 2015).…”

An Oxygen Delivery Polymer Enhances Seed Germination in a Martian-like Environment

“…There do not appear to be any reports in the literature, however, that report the successful germination/growth of crop plants grown in Mars regolith simulant in a pure or nearly pure CO 2 atmosphere. Finally, it does appear that the level of martian gravity is sufficient for proper root development [for a review, see Kiss (2014)] It is critical therefore to utilize local resources as much as possible to establish the first generation of plant crops and a robust biological life support system (Perchonok et al, 2012;Verseux et al, 2015). One potential difficulty in relying primarily on Mars's atmosphere and regolith to establish and maintain crop plants is the requirement of oxygen during seed germination.…”