This chain represents a universal technology for colonization.
Scientists from the University of Bremen have laid the groundwork for future gardens on Mars – they created fertilizer from the dust of the Red Planet. Martian soil is unsuitable for growing plants as it lacks organic matter. However, it contains many different minerals, and the Martian atmosphere is composed of 95.32% carbon dioxide.
Minerals and gas, along with sunlight, form the main "diet" of cyanobacteria. The researchers used a Martian soil simulant, MGS-1, to cultivate a population of cyanobacteria. They then subjected it to thermal treatment and anaerobic fermentation to extract ammonium from the biomass. This is one of the key fertilizers that increases soil fertility.
The obtained ammonium was used to grow duckweed, which rapidly gains mass and is edible. The results are impressive – from 1 gram of dry cyanobacteria, they managed to obtain 27 grams of duckweed. As a bonus, the scientists produced oxygen – a byproduct of cyanobacteria metabolism – and methane from their processing.
This chain represents a universal technology for colonizing Mars: using cyanobacteria, it will be possible to obtain food, oxygen for breathing, and energy. However, all of this currently works only under laboratory conditions, and it is uncertain whether these processes can be replicated on Mars with its radiation, low temperatures, and low gravity.
