Jan 29, 2022 03:45 AM
https://bigthink.com/the-future/biominin...-colonies/
INTRO: In 2020, scientists with the European Space Agency announced that they had successfully used bacteria to extract rare earth minerals from basalt inside a small bioreactor onboard the International Space Station. The experiment was meant to simulate the microbial harvesting of elements from rocks similar to those found on the Moon and Mars, a process called biomining. Its success suggested genuine potential for what may seem like a science fiction future: using microbes to extract useful materials on the Moon, Mars, and beyond that can sustain space colonies.
If humans ever hope to establish permanent settlements elsewhere in the solar system, we are going to need a steady supply of water; oxygen; essential nutrients for plant nutrition as well as our own; gaseous elements like hydrogen, nitrogen, and helium to make fuel; and metals like iron, copper, and vanadium for structures and electronic components. Luckily, these all can be obtained from extraterrestrial rocks, and microorganisms can help.
Biomining
Right now on Earth, specialized microbes are used to leach precious metals from rocks. Around 20-25% of copper and 5% of gold are harvested with biomining. Bacteria can also extract zinc, nickel, cobalt, uranium, and various other elements straight from mineral ores. What if we could do the same thing in space? The process would require relatively little energy and mitigate the need to import materials from Earth.
Charles S. Cockell and Rosa Santomartino, scientists at the UK Centre for Astrobiology and the University of Edinburgh, along with Luis Zea, an assistant research professor in aerospace engineering at the University of Colorado, are a few of the thinkers trying to lay the groundwork for space-based biomining. In a recent article published in the journal Extremophiles, they explained how it might work... (MORE - details)
INTRO: In 2020, scientists with the European Space Agency announced that they had successfully used bacteria to extract rare earth minerals from basalt inside a small bioreactor onboard the International Space Station. The experiment was meant to simulate the microbial harvesting of elements from rocks similar to those found on the Moon and Mars, a process called biomining. Its success suggested genuine potential for what may seem like a science fiction future: using microbes to extract useful materials on the Moon, Mars, and beyond that can sustain space colonies.
If humans ever hope to establish permanent settlements elsewhere in the solar system, we are going to need a steady supply of water; oxygen; essential nutrients for plant nutrition as well as our own; gaseous elements like hydrogen, nitrogen, and helium to make fuel; and metals like iron, copper, and vanadium for structures and electronic components. Luckily, these all can be obtained from extraterrestrial rocks, and microorganisms can help.
Biomining
Right now on Earth, specialized microbes are used to leach precious metals from rocks. Around 20-25% of copper and 5% of gold are harvested with biomining. Bacteria can also extract zinc, nickel, cobalt, uranium, and various other elements straight from mineral ores. What if we could do the same thing in space? The process would require relatively little energy and mitigate the need to import materials from Earth.
Charles S. Cockell and Rosa Santomartino, scientists at the UK Centre for Astrobiology and the University of Edinburgh, along with Luis Zea, an assistant research professor in aerospace engineering at the University of Colorado, are a few of the thinkers trying to lay the groundwork for space-based biomining. In a recent article published in the journal Extremophiles, they explained how it might work... (MORE - details)