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Blood astronaut can be a magic formula to build a house in Mars. Researchers from the University of Manchester in the UK have come up with the idea to make building construction materials on the Red Planet.
Various efforts were made to create a residence there. It is very unlikely that we have to transport the necessary logistics of building materials and water using a spacecraft from Earth to Mars. Since this method is too expensive, scientists suggest using what is available instead: dust, urine from sweat, tears, and urine, even astronaut blood.
A study published in the journal Materials Today Bio shows that space explorers can make a concrete-like material by using a protein (human serum albumin) from blood plasma as a binder mixed with lunar dust or Mars. The team calls it the “AstroCrete” biocomposite and says it is as strong as ordinary concrete.
“Scientists have been trying to develop viable technologies to produce materials such as concrete on the Martian surface, but we have never stopped thinking that the answer may have been within us all along,” said lead author of the study, Aled Roberts. Cnet.
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This 3D-printed biocomposite could be a future building material on Mars. Photo: Aled Roberts/Research Fellow Future Biomanufacturing Research Hub Manchester Institute of Biotechnology– |
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The idea of using animal blood as a mortar binder dates back at least to the Middle Ages. Blood isn’t the only bodily fluid scientists are investigating. In addition, you can also add urea, a waste product produced by humans through urine, sweat, and tears, AstroCrete will become stronger than ordinary concrete.
The idea of using urine in extraterrestrial building materials has been studied before. A different group of researchers mixed urea with a substitute for lunar regolith to make a kind of concrete on the Moon.
While blood is a renewable resource. The researchers found that six astronauts could produce more than 500 kilograms of AstroCrete during a two-year mission. The material could potentially be 3D printed, and could serve as mortar for sandbags.
AstroCrete may not produce the futuristic habitats that are often depicted as full of glass as in science fiction films. But at least, AstroCrete can be a practical and affordable solution to the complex problem of creating building structures in Mars.
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