Towards synthetic biological approaches to resource utilization on space missions.
This paper demonstrates the significant utility of deploying non-traditional biological techniques to harness available volatiles and waste resources on manned missions to explore the Moon and Mars. Compared with anticipated non-biological approaches, it is determined that for 916 day Martian missions: 205 days of high-quality methane and oxygen Mars bioproduction with Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum can reduce the mass of a Martian fuel-manufacture plant by 56%; 496 days of biomass generation with Arthrospira platensis and Arthrospira maxima on Mars can decrease the shipped wet-food mixed-menu mass for a Mars stay and a one-way voyage by 38%; 202 days of Mars polyhydroxybutyrate synthesis with Cupriavidus necator can lower the shipped mass to three-dimensional print a 120 m(3) six-person habitat by 85% and a few days of acetaminophen production with engineered Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 can completely replenish expired or irradiated stocks of the pharmaceutical, thereby providing independence from unmanned resupply spacecraft that take up to 210 days to arrive. Analogous outcomes are included for lunar missions. Because of the benign assumptions involved, the results provide a glimpse of the intriguing potential of 'space synthetic biology', and help focus related efforts for immediate, near-term impact.
California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, University of California, 2151 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94704-5230, USA amenezes@berkeley.edu.
Amor A
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3923-5766
AA
Menezes
NASA Ames Space Portal, NASA Ames Research Center, MS 555-2, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
John
J
Cumbers
Bioengineering Branch, NASA Ames Research Center, MS 239-15, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
John A
JA
Hogan
E.O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, MS 955-512L, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Adam P
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4999-2931
AP
Arkin
D000082:Acetaminophen / Q000737:chemistry; D018533:Biomass; D005118:Extraterrestrial Environment; D005523:Food Supply; D006801:Humans; D006885:Hydroxybutyrates / Q000737:chemistry; D008697:Methane / Q000737:chemistry; D017014:Methanobacterium / Q000378:metabolism*; D016081:Moon; D009609:Nitrous Oxide / Q000737:chemistry; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry; D010788:Photosynthesis; D010944:Plants; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry; D013026:Space Flight; D018531:Spacecraft; D053545:Spirulina; D046939:Synechocystis; D058615:Synthetic Biology; D000094122:Polyhydroxybutyrates
D000082:Acetaminophen; D006885:Hydroxybutyrates; D008697:Methane; D009609:Nitrous Oxide; D010100:Oxygen; D011091:Polyesters; C003182:poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate; D000094122:Polyhydroxybutyrates
Spirulina; acetaminophen; cyanobacteria; methanogens; polyhydroxybutyrate; space synthetic biology