Interstellar Architecture W
ho hasn’t dreamt of go- the major challenges for astronauts ing materials. As living things, funing to space, at least and engineers to overcome. As one gi are naturally self-expanding and once? The idea of ven- of NASA’s Centennial Challenges, self-repairing. A small starter sample turing to distant planets,construct- over two million dollars has been could be stored and transported to ing new habitats, and going where awarded in prizes for innovations Mars, and then activated by astrono man has gone before appeals in the field. This is not an easy task; nauts with provided nutrients, and deeply to the human spirit that has these bases must fulfil a variety of allowed to grow. With the provision sent us to every corner of the earth. very specific design criteria, as out- of a lightweight plastic framework, a Since the fervour of the space race lined under NASA’s various DRA thick layer of mycelium would grow in the late 1960s, science-fiction has (Design Reference Architecture) and shape to form a liveable habibeen omnipresent in entertainment, scenarios. They must be lightweight tat. However, the greatest strength every year seeing more fantastic al- and greatly expandable to save cru- of myco-architecture comes from ien planets and imaginative new cial space on the shuttle, and able the versatility of living organisms. technologies take to withstand the Using extensive genetic engineer“Fungi can do far over our screens. harsh Martian ing, the fungi can also be radically The way these more than just match e n v i r o n m e n t altered to allow them to support the shows imagine conventional building once deployed; structure and its occupants. Back the human habian incredibly thin on Earth, fungi feed by excreting materials” tats of the future, atmosphere with enzymes from the threads in their however, seems to vary little. It’s no ozone layer means the surface mycelium, individually called hynormally an environment dominat- is constantly bombarded with ra- phae, into the environment. A field ed by cold steel and thick glass; an diation, and temperatures can fluc- of biology known as “synthetic biutterly artificial space punctuated by tuate by close to a hundred degrees ology” looks to instead change the flashing lights and lens flares, with – these conditions cause most of our fungi to secrete products useful for the only life on-screen being our plastics and metals to degrade, and Mars exploration. This could include agglutinatheroes and whichever alien is eating even begin to produce toxic gases. ing agents to better seal the mycelithe maintenance crew that week. So, it may come as some surprise iven the apparent horror of the um against the elements or melanin that for NASA, the building material Martian surface, where even for soaking damaging radiation (the to create their lunar and Mars bases is some of the toughest materials we same compound that protects huentirely organic, and yet, appropri- have today fail, it is hard to imagine man skin from UV rays). Rothschild ately, like nothing we use on Earth: how something as insignificant as envisions the complete biologifungi; specifically, the mat of long, a fungus could be much help. Yet cal Martian habitats taking on a fibrous threads that fungi produce researchers at the Ames Research three-layered structure. The first, to feed, known together as the my- Centre, led by astrobiologist Lynn outermost layer would be frozen celium. The use of fungi to create Rothschild, believe that biologi- water, which we now know is plenhabitats has been dubbed “myco-ar- cal building materials offer a solu- tiful at the Martian poles, and which chitecture”, and on Mars, bioma- tion to every one of the red planet’s already has significant radiation-abterials could be used to their fullest many challenges. For to conquer the hostile final frontier. a start, years of testing “The only limits with mycoThrough clever genetic engineer- have shown that, used architecture are the gaps in our ing and careful use of Mars’ few re- correctly, mycelium is knowledge and imaginations” sources, the first men and women comparable to wood on Mars may end up being sheltered or concrete in resisting deformation sorbing properties. Some of this and provided for by a habitat built, under pressure, and matches both in water would be allowed to trickle into the second layer, built of bacin part, from this unlikely material. insulating properties. Designing a habitat suitable for a However, fungi can do far more terial cultures. Some bacteria, called permanent base on Mars is one of than just match conventional build- cyanobacteria, are capable of using
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