Bynspride materials, chitin used to build equipment and shelters on Mars

One of the most ubiquitous organic polymers on Earth, a simple manufacturing technology based on chitin, could be used to build equipment and shelters on Mars, according to a study published September 16 in the open-journal Access Journal. Plaza one By Javier Fernandez and colleagues at the University of Singapore Technological Design G and Design.

With plans to re-visit the lunar surface and eventually send a crew mission to Mars, future space exploration missions are likely to involve extended investments. Such missions, or perhaps even colonies, need to meet basic human needs for survival. One material that can be used to meet those needs is chitin, which is produced by organisms in most biological kingdoms and metabolized. The chitin is the main component of the cell walls of fungi, the exoskeletons of arthropods such as crustaceans and insects and the scales of fish and amphibians. Due to its ubiquity, chitin will probably be part of any artificial ecosystem.

In the new study, Fernandez and colleagues used appropriate chemistry for early Martian compromise to create and create new materials without minimum energy requirements and special devices. They made this material by combining chitosan with a mineral designed to mimic the properties of Martian clay. The authors then used chitinous material to model a ranch and matian habitat, demonstrating that this material enabled the rapid production of objects ranging from basic equipment to rigid shelters, which could support humans in the Martian atmosphere. According to the authors, this approach may be the key to our development as an international species.

Dr .. Fernandez notes that “against the general vision, bionspride manufacturing and sustainable materials are not a substitute for synthetic polymers, but a competent technology defining new product patterns, and allowing work to be achieved by synthetic counterparts. Here we have shown that it is not only for our sustainability on earth but also one of the next greatest achievements of humanity: the transformation of our international species. “

Fernandez goes further into the state “The technology was originally developed to create circular ecosystems in urban environments, but because of its efficiency, it is also the most efficient and scalable method of producing material in closed artificial ecosystems in extremely rare inanimate environments. Planet or satellite.”