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CLUSTER: Creative Lunar Utilization Systems to Transform Extraterrestrial Regolith

CLUSTER: Creative Lunar Utilization Systems to Transform Extraterrestrial Regolith. NASA AMES ACADEMY 2009. MOTIVATIONS:. To aid the current plan to travel to the Moon and Mars ISRU will decrease several aspects of a mission: Mass Cost Risk.

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CLUSTER: Creative Lunar Utilization Systems to Transform Extraterrestrial Regolith

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  1. CLUSTER:Creative Lunar Utilization Systems to Transform Extraterrestrial Regolith • NASA AMES ACADEMY 2009

  2. MOTIVATIONS: • To aid the current plan to travel to the Moon and Mars • ISRU will decrease several aspects of a mission: • Mass • Cost • Risk 18 SEPTEMBER 2009 NASA AMES ACADEMY

  3. SCENARIO: • On the Moon • Fully Controlled Environment/Ventilation • Using microbes to create a more hospitable growth environment for plants 18 SEPTEMBER 2009 NASA AMES ACADEMY

  4. GOALS: • Acidity: • To determine whether acidophilic microbes will free up the elements needed to grow plants in lunar regolith simulant • Plants: • To determine whether microbial co-cultures have improved the habitability of the regolith simulant environment 18 SEPTEMBER 2009 NASA AMES ACADEMY

  5. ACIDITY:USING ACIDOPHILES TO RELEASE ELEMENTS IN REGOLITH

  6. MICROBECULTURE: • Co-culture of Cyanidium caldarium (red alga) and Ferroplasma acidarmanus (archaean) with media mixture of nutrients (thrive in low pH and 40°C) • Control Group 1 (regolith slurry with HCL) • Control Group 2 (regolith slurry with DDI water) 18 SEPTEMBER 2009 NASA AMES ACADEMY

  7. pH tended towards neutrality in all samples RESULTS: 18 SEPTEMBER 2009 NASA AMES ACADEMY

  8. Conclusions • Rising pH undermined effort to produce optimal growth environment for microbes • Results inconclusive • Need to perform additional chemical tests for analysis • Future Studies • Maintain more favorable environment by cycling acid • Measure micronutrient concentration using advanced soil fertility tests RESULTS: 18 SEPTEMBER 2009 NASA AMES ACADEMY

  9. PLANT GROWTH:MODIFYING REGOLITH FOR PLANT CULTIVATION

  10. PAENIBACILLUS POLYMYXA 9a • A root-colonizing bacteria that increases plant strength, growth, and yield (rhizobacteria) • Similar microbe: Paenibacillus sp. IMBG 156 was shown to release elements such as iron, silicon, and potassium when inoculated in an anorthosite substrate (Kozyrovska et al. 2006) • Inoculation was shown to make plants more resistant to drought conditions or abiotic stress 18 SEPTEMBER 2009 NASA AMES ACADEMY

  11. NOSTOC • Can survive in a desiccated state for months or even years and recover after re-hydration • Fixes atmospheric N2 in the presence of O2 ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA • Ideal Test Specimen • Rapid life cycle • Small size • Small genome fully characterized • Easily modified 18 SEPTEMBER 2009 NASA AMES ACADEMY

  12. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP: 18 SEPTEMBER 2009 NASA AMES ACADEMY

  13. OBSERVATIONS • Two forms of growth not expected: • White, fibrous growth on three samples • White flecks on at least 2 samples • Changes in top layer of regolith: • Lighter, cake-like texture • Occured SOLELY in experiments NOT inoculated with microbes 18 SEPTEMBER 2009 NASA AMES ACADEMY

  14. CAKE-LIKE LAYER WHITE FLAKES 18 SEPTEMBER 2009 NASA AMES ACADEMY

  15. PHOSPHOLIPID FATTY ACID • Key component the cell membrane • Decompose quickly upon cell death • Test evaluates concentration of the six structural groups of PLFA in the surviving microbes • Expected results: • Co-cultures will demonstrate more microbial growth than single cultures • Contaminated samples will be identified 18 SEPTEMBER 2009 NASA AMES ACADEMY

  16. SOIL FERTILITY TESTING • Uses a commercially available kit: Forestry Suppliers’ Soil Analysis FIELD Kit • Detects basic nutrients: Nitrogen, Potassium, and Phosphorus levels in soil • Expected results: Soil samples that have had microbes growing will have higher concentrations on these necessary nutrients 18 SEPTEMBER 2009 NASA AMES ACADEMY

  17. EVIDENCE OF GROWTH • Trial to determine optimal slurry composition • Added microbes and incubated, covered, for 3 weeks NOSTOC REGOLITH MICROGRAPH OF TRIAL SLURRY FLUORESCENT MICROGRAPH OF TRIAL SLURRY 18 SEPTEMBER 2009 NASA AMES ACADEMY

  18. DISCUSSION: • CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE

  19. FUTURE STUDY • Perform study to determine optimal time between inoculating and planting seeds (abandoned due to time constraints) • Perform the experiments using different co-cultures • Conduct tests to determine a more optimal slurry mixture/slurry creation technique • Perform the experiments again using a food producing plant such as wheat 18 SEPTEMBER 2009 NASA AMES ACADEMY

  20. Jon RaskYuri GrikoMatt ReyesLee BeboutBrad BaileyAnita MantriBrad BeboutPete WordenChris McKayErin TranfieldErich FlemingKristina GibbsOrlando SantosEduardo AlmeidaLockheed Martin Lunar Science InstituteCalifornia Space Authority THANK YOU:

  21. California Space Grant Alabama Space Grant New York Space Grant Florida Space Grant Kentucky Space Grant Massachusetts Space Grant Hawaii Space Grant Texas Space Grant Michigan Space Grant JAXA SPECIAL THANKS TO:

  22. QUESTIONS?

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