When future astronauts embark on missions to the moon or Mars, they’ll need a place to call home. While you might picture extraterrestrial cities made of steel, glass, or advanced carbon fiber, NASA has a more organic approach in mind. The agency is investing in research to cultivate habitats out of fungi, a concept aptly named myco-architecture.
This seemingly outlandish idea holds significant practical advantages. Transporting materials to space is a challenging and costly endeavor, and hauling massive amounts of building materials on a rocket is simply not feasible. Space agencies are increasingly turning towards resource-efficient solutions, such as utilizing readily available materials like the dusty regolith covering Mars’s surface, or employing lightweight materials like inflatable habitats.
In the case of fungi, the concept involves creating a lightweight, compact structure containing dormant fungi for the journey. Upon reaching their destination, astronauts would simply “add water” to activate the fungi’s growth around a framework, ultimately forming a complete habitat. This project falls under NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, dedicated to developing futuristic ideas for space travel.
“As NASA prepares to explore farther into the cosmos than ever before, it will require new science and technology that doesn’t yet exist,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a statement. “NASA’s space technology team and the NIAC program unlock visionary ideas – ideas that make the impossible, possible. This new research is a steppingstone to our Artemis campaign as we prepare to go back to the Moon to live, to learn, to invent, to create — then venture to Mars and beyond.”
The myco-architecture concept has previously been funded as an early-phase project, successfully growing a stool out of fungi in just two weeks, a testament to the technology’s potential. The next stage involves a baking process to solidify the fungi into a clean and functional piece of furniture.
Now, the project has received additional funding to further develop the technology and explore a potential demonstration mission. The team will focus on optimizing the materials they are growing and ultimately test the concept in low-Earth orbit, potentially on the International Space Station.
“Mycotecture Off Planet exemplifies how advanced concepts can change how we envision future exploration missions,” said John Nelson, NIAC Program Executive. “As NASA embarks on the next era of space exploration, NIAC helps the agency lay the necessary groundwork to bring innovative visions to life.”
This groundbreaking research holds the potential to revolutionize space architecture, paving the way for sustainable and self-sufficient settlements on the moon and Mars. The prospect of growing our own homes on other planets is both inspiring and a testament to human ingenuity, pushing the boundaries of what we thought possible in the realm of space exploration.
