NASA wants to create bricks made from fungi to use in the colonization of Mars

Until recently, the idea of ​​humans colonizing a planet other than Earth was nothing more than the plot of a science fiction movie. However, in 2020, people are already working hard to turn this into reality. NASA, for example, has already sent the Curiosity probe to the so-called red planet, and recently presented the Mars 2020 vehicle, which should start operating next year with the mission of searching for signs of life in the place and paving the way for the goal of organize a manned mission.

And the American space agency is already so advanced in research to take man to Mars that it is already thinking about how to build the structures that will serve as a home for the first explorers. And the answer may lie in fungi.

O awesome.club decided to find out how these micro-organisms could play a crucial role in building homes for humans on Mars. Check it out.

One of the biggest challenges for the occupation of Mars is the transport of what is necessary for the construction of accommodations and laboratories on that planet. Concrete and traditional bricks are too big and heavy to take on an interplanetary trip. Therefore, NASA has been investing in the development of biological tools that can replace such materials.

According to a recent statement, NASA has assigned a group of scholars to monitor the behavior of fungi capable of forming structures such as bricks. And it would be with them that the structures for human accommodation on Mars could be built. “The aim of the project is for astronauts to be able to transport a compact habitat built with a light material, made from fungi capable of withstanding long journeys, as would be the case on Mars,” said the agency.

During tests carried out in laboratories, specialists were able to build a kind of stool based on mycelia, a set of cells that form the body of multicellular fungi, left to grow for two weeks. Now, the challenges are to observe how such organisms will react outside the laboratory and genetically modify them so that they do not contaminate the Martian environment, surviving in the conditions offered by the planet.

According to NASA, fungi also have the potential to filter water and act in biomining processes, through which metals and minerals are extracted from wastewater, making it reusable. These properties are considered fundamental to the mission of making Mars a habitable place.

What do you think of the idea of ​​taking man to Mars? Would you dare to be one of the first explorers of the red planet? What would you miss most about life on Earth? And what would you not miss in the slightest? Leave your comment!