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Astronauts Will Eat Asteroids, and a Lunar Station Will Be Grown Using Mushrooms: How Humanity Is Preparing to Step Beyond the Limits of Earth
Humanity is seriously preparing to go beyond the Earth and settle in other places, for example, on the Moon or Mars. And although there is nothing special about flying there with all your belongings, and landing a rover on the Moon is also only possible once, engineering minds have already begun to move. Why carry food with you if you can hoard an asteroid? Why build a lunar observatory if you can build it right on the spot? What? Yes.
The prestigious International Journal of Astrobiology has just published a paper whose authors will thank generations of future space explorers. Any words associated with this "thank you" will not be printed.
The flight to Mars will last two years. But what exactly is on the way? In Soviet science fiction, somewhere outside the ship there was probably a greenhouse with non-GMO flavors on the table. Birds often chirped there. The Earth-sick cosmonauts carefully wandered among the lush groves of turnips. A light and innocent flirtation began. This is how they envisioned the conquest of space decades ago.
Holy time. The author of the article removes all this stuff and throws it back. You will eat an asteroid. Is it like gnawing a stone or something? Well, almost.
On the way to Mars, the spacecraft will pick up dust and rocks, and all of this will remain in special traps, and the good stuff will disappear. Researchers assume that by grinding up the rocks and feeding them to special bacteria, they will process the rocks into a nutritious mush. You will lick your fingers.
"It would be great if microbes could feed on asteroids," says Annemiek Waaen of the Free University of Amsterdam.
Joshua Pearce, an engineering professor at Western University in Ontario, rushes forward and says, "I'll try first."
Once the word is out, scientists will start asking for precious asteroid soil and bringing the idea to life in the lab.
There are just nuances. No one knows whether this goo is toxic or not (though it is strange, like a biologist). The fact that it will taste sickening was not discussed.
Of course, a person is true to himself. Wherever he goes, he will eat everything.
Another amazing idea is not to build future lunar (or even Martian) observatories, but to grow them on site.
The Chinese recently presented a plan. First, a robot flies to the moon. They use lasers to cut dirt and make bricks. The building collapses. People come later, and they just have to live in boxes. It looks bold, even grandiose. NASA decided: "We're going to do it differently."
The agency recently signed a contract with a private research company that promises to build a lunar base using mushrooms and seaweed.
Plastic bags in the shape of futuristic structures are delivered to the moon. When folded, it looks like an inflatable playground. Water is mined on site. It is already clear that the lunar soil is full of bound states. The plastic is filled with water, to which mold spores and dried algae taken from the earth are added. The biological mixture grows, swells, and a plastic nipple takes shape. This is something you can buy. We thought it would take a month or two for the structure to grow.
It may seem strange, but tests (I think they have already done this on Earth) have shown that such stations reflect radiation better than stone and soften the contrast between hot days on the Moon and cold nights at the North Pole.
Lynn Rothschild, a senior scientist at NASA's Ames Center, says there's some doubt that the walls will be strong (are mushrooms hard?) and that the mixture will grow as well as it does on Earth. So they'll do the experiments on the ISS. It will be at least close to lunar conditions.
For centuries, people have thought that Earth is some kind of unique oasis of life. Walk on the rocks in a spacesuit under the blue sky, green grass and space.
However, recent research suggests that space may not be habitable and that microorganisms and fungi can survive even in the most adverse conditions.
So, in 1967, the Americans landed the Surveyor 3 probe on the Moon. Years later, people came to it and took samples from the case. It turns out that microorganisms that did not interfere with the cleaning of the probe on Earth have been living and thriving on the Moon for many years. Soon, long-term orbital observatories appeared, and it was discovered that the problem was microorganisms, mold, and fungus. They live inside the station and on the ISS (especially on the ISS), but they also live outside.
Of course, if there are bacteria somewhere on the asteroid, they are dormant. However, the environment is not very good. But if we transfer there what is on the earth, it will not die.
Experiments have shown that lunar soil is very suitable for gardening. For example, the pastures there are not distinguished by an abundance of black soil. However, it is rich in minerals, and the same bacteria can be used to produce humus. Earth experiments with lunar soil and all types of radishes have shown that they grow.
We all think we're going to conquer the moon and bring back gold and rare metals. Or cucumbers. And then, decades later, you go to the supermarket and ask, "Who's the manufacturer? The moon ...
Several years ago, researchers from the Krasnoyarsk Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences proposed growing oyster mushrooms on the Moon for astronauts to eat. An article about this was published in the journal Life Sciences in Space Research. Oyster mushrooms are unpretentious and rich in vitamin D. It is assumed that the mushrooms will be grown on "compost heaps" - household (organic) waste that inevitably forms on the station. They found that 28 kg of mushrooms can be grown from almost 100 kg of compost in two months. This is enough for even the inhabitants of a large lunar observatory to receive 100 g of oyster mushrooms twice a week. Animal food on the Moon at this time is very scarce, so it is better to use mushrooms.