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Astronaut Luca Parmitano places biomining reactors in a centrifuge aboard the International Space Station. Credit: European Space Agency
The first mining experiments conducted in space could pave the way for new technologies to help humans explore and establish settlements on distant worlds, a study suggests.
Tests performed by astronauts on the International Space Station suggest that bacteria can extract useful materials from rocks Mars and the moon.
The findings could help efforts to develop ways of supplying metals and minerals, such as iron and magnesium, essential for survival in space.
The bacteria could one day be used to break down rocks in the soil for growing crops or to provide minerals for life support systems that produce air and water, the researchers say.
The matchbox-sized mining devices, called biomining reactors, were developed by scientists from the UK’s Center for Astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh over a 10-year period.
Eighteen of the devices were transported to the space station – which orbits the Earth at an altitude of approximately 250 miles – aboard a SpaceX rocket launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida, United States, in July 2019.
A biomining reactor containing small slices of basalt rock. Credit: Charles Cockell
Small chunks of basalt – a common rock on the Moon and Mars – were loaded into each device and immersed in a bacterial solution. The three-week experiment was conducted in space gravity conditions to simulate environments on Mars and the Moon.
The team’s results suggest that the bacteria could improve the removal of rare earth elements from basalt in lunar and Martian landscapes by up to about 400%. Rare earth elements are used extensively in technologies, including cell phones, computers, and magnets.
Microbes are also routinely used on Earth in the so-called biomining process to extract economically useful elements such as copper and gold from rocks. The new experiments have also provided new data on how gravity affects the growth of microbe communities here on Earth, the researchers say.
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, has received funding from the British Space Agency and the European Space Agency. The research was supported by the Science and Technology Facilities Council, part of the UK Research and Innovation. The miniature mining reactors used in the experiment were built by the engineering company Kayser Italia.
Professor Charles Cockell, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Physics and Astronomy, who led the project, said: “Our experiments provide support for the scientific and technical feasibility of biologically enhanced elemental extraction through the Solar System. While it is not economically feasible to mine these elements into space and bring them to Earth, space biomination could potentially support a self-sustaining human presence in space.
“For example, our results suggest that building robotic and man-made mines in the Moon region Oceanus Procellarum, which has rocks with enriched concentrations of rare earth elements, could be a fruitful direction of human scientific and economic development beyond the earth . “
Dr Rosa Santomartino, a postdoctoral scientist at the University’s Faculty of Physics and Astronomy, who worked on the project, said: “Microorganisms are very versatile and as we move through space, they can be used to make a variety of processes. Elementary extraction is potentially one of them “.
Libby Jackson, head of the human exploration program at the British Space Agency, said: “It is wonderful to see the scientific results from BioRock published. Experiments like this show that the UK, through the British Space Agency, is playing a key role in the European Space Agency’s exploration program.
“The results of experiments such as BioRock will not only help develop a technology that will allow humans to further explore our Solar System, but will also help scientists from a wide range of disciplines acquire knowledge that can benefit us all on Earth.”
Reference: “Space Station Biomining Experiment Demonstrates Extraction of Rare Earth Elements in Microgravity and Gravity of Mars” by Charles S. Cockell, Rosa Santomartino, Kai Finster, Annemiek C. Waajen, Lorna J. Eades, Ralf Moeller, Petra Rettberg, Felix M. Fuchs, Rob Van Houdt, Natalie Leys, Ilse Coninx, Jason Hatton, Luca Parmitano, Jutta Krause, Andrea Koehler, Nicol Caplin, Lobke Zuijderduijn, Alessandro Mariani, Stefano S. Pellari, Fabrizio Carubia, Giacomo Luciani, Michele Balsamo, Valfredo Zolesi, Natasha Nicholson, Claire-Marie Loudon, Jeannine Doswald-Winkler, Magdalena Herová, Bernd Rattenbacher, Jennifer Wadsworth, R. Craig Everroad and René Demets, 10 November 2020, Nature Communications.
DOI: 10.1038 / s41467-020-19276-w
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