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A British-led experiment that could allow mining on the Moon and Mars will be launched on Saturday on the International Space Station (ISS).
Acquiring local resources into space rather than bringing everything needed off Earth could allow long-term human settlements off the planet.
The new BioAsteroid experiment, which will take off on a SpaceX rocket at 4:39 pm, will bring matchbox-sized containers to the ISS to investigate how the biomining process works in microgravity conditions.
The autonomous laboratory will be used on board the ISS. Pic: ESA
The containers will be used to grow bacteria and fungi in an incubator for three weeks to see how the gravitational environment affects the microbes that extract materials from rocks.
Microbes are used to biominate the Earth as a friendly way to access the metals trapped in the rocks that the microbes digest, leaving behind the materials needed by the miners.
If the technique is successful in space, it could support efforts to explore the moon and Mars, allowing humanity to mine building materials, water and even rocket fuel.
According to the University of Edinburgh: “Bacteria could be the key to turning the surfaces of desolate worlds such as the Moon or Mars into fertile farmland where visitors or settlers could grow their own food.
“This would, once again, reduce the amount of food needed for long-term missions, while also providing the much-needed variety and nutrition that are difficult to provide in space rations today.”
The ISS offers conditions similar to those environments that cannot be replicated on Earth, the researchers said.
The experiment will take place aboard the ISS. Pic: NASA
Libby Jackson, head of the human exploration program at the British Space Agency, said: “If we want to continue exploring space and pushing the boundaries of what is possible, then we will have to create or find the essentials required to sustain life .
‘Thanks to our membership of the European Space Agency, British scientists are able to exploit the unique scientific facilities available on the ISS and are at the forefront of efforts to recreate the foundations of life on Earth.
“The new Bioreactor Express program, of which this experiment is a part, will change the way we are able to use this unique laboratory, opening up new opportunities for British scientists and organizations to undertake science in space.”
Scientists from the University of Edinburgh and Kayser Space, based in the Harwell space cluster in Oxfordshire, collaborated on the project.
Professor Charles Cockell, of the University of Edinburgh, said: ‘To support humans permanently beyond the Earth, we need to have access to useful materials. This experiment enhances our ability to do so.
“It will also provide fundamental new insights into processes that are useful here on Earth, such as biomining and how microbes form biofilms that soil our industrial pipes and plants.”
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