A team of Chinese scientists developed a formula for 3D printing houses on Mars using a mixture that combines Martian rocks with terrestrial gelatin and yeast. The resulting material dries and hardens, generating a living construction material as resistant as concrete, which can be recycled and reused. The method was detailed in an article published in the journal Chem Circularity.
This new process would allow building colonies on Mars without the need to transport construction materials for months on space journeys, overcoming the planet's harsh conditions such as glacial cold, high radiation, and the near-nonexistent atmosphere. The inspiration for the project came from freeze-dried fruits, which harden over time, a process similar to what occurs under Martian conditions of extremely low temperature and pressure.
The team developed a yeast coated with highly adhesive proteins, including those that mussels use to attach to rocks, adding gelatin to bind the ingredients and sand to provide mass and structure. When the mixture is printed under simulated Mars conditions, the extreme cold and low pressure freeze-dry it, creating a lightweight and porous material with a compressive strength of 10 to 12 megapascals, comparable to that of concrete. The printed structures are small domes of approximately 45 millimeters in height.
The biological material is resistant enough to build one or two-story buildings on Earth, where gravity is three times that of Mars, so it would be possible to erect multi-story buildings on the red planet. This method saves energy compared to previous proposals that involved heating and melting Martian rocks. The only drawback is that the material has not yet been tested under real Mars conditions and depends, although to a lesser degree, on terrestrial ingredients.
