Space ‘ mining’ experiment could unlock vital resources for mission to Mars
A UK- l ed mining- i n- space experiment, which has the potential to provide resources for future missions to the moon and Mars, is due to take off for its journey to the International Space Station ( ISS) on Saturday.
Experiments on the ( ISS) have shown that the process of biomining will work in microgravity.
The discover y could help the first space settlers to gather the minerals they need to build a long- term presence beyond Earth.
The Bioasteroid experiment is due to be blasted into orbit on a Spacex rocket on Saturday at 4.39pm.
I t will t ake up matchbox s i zed containers carr yi ng asteroid rock. That will then be used to grow bacteria and fungi in an incubator for three weeks to investigate how gravity affects interaction between t he microb es and r o c k i n reduced gravity.
Scientists will investigate how t he microbes extract materials from rocks in space.
On Earth, microbes are used in some mining as a friendly way to access metals, they digest the rock and what is left behind are the metals that miners need.
I f s uc c e s s f ul , t he method would support efforts to explore the moon and Mars, allowing humans to extract buil di ng materials, water or r ocket f uel. Libby Jackson, human exploration programme manager at the UK Space Agency, said: "I f we want to keep exploring space and pushing the boundaries of
what is possible, then we will need to make or find the essential elements required to support life.
"Through our membership of the European Space Agency, UK scientists are able to take advantage of 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
programme, which this experiment forms part of, is going to change the way we are able use this unique laboratory, opening up new opportunities for UK scientists and organisations to undertake science in space."
Scientists at the University of Edinburgh and Kayser Space, based at the Harwell space cluster in Oxfordshire collaborated on the project.
Professor Charles Cockell, University of Edinburgh, said: "To sustain humans permanently beyond Earth we need to get access to useful materials.
"This experiment advances our ability to do that. It will also yield new f undament al i nsights i nto processes that are useful here on Earth, such as biomining and how microbes form biofilms that
foul our pipes and industrial plants." The launch comes as astronomers say they are one step closer to understanding how t he moon might have formed out of a giant collision between the early Earth and another massive object 4.5 billion years ago.
S cientists ran supercomputer si mulations t o send a Mars- sized planet called Theia crashing into the early
Earth. These simulations produced an orbiting body that could potentially evolve into a moon- like object.
While the researchers are careful to say this is not definitive proof of the moon's origin, they add that it could be a promising stage in understanding how the celestial body formed.