Appendix D: Biomimicry of the Growth of a Desert Plant as an Approach for Extractions of Phosphorus and Minerals from Martian Regolith

Robotic or human space missions are extremely costly. The cost associated with exploration of space missions can be curtailed by reducing the launch mass. This is possible by utilizing in-situ resources. Martian regolith is composed of iron, magnesium, aluminum, calcium, potassium, silicon, chromium, manganese, sulfur, phosphorus, and sodium, and has the potential to be an excellent in-situ source of minerals and nutrients to support human lives and activities. However, these elements exist in the forms of stable oxides and/or complexes rather than their elemental form. The processing of oxides and complexes to recover high purity elements is economically and technically challenging. Several desert plants, such as paloverde, grow on rocks in Nevada with limited water, similar to the conditions on Mars. This means that these plants are able to extract nutrients and minerals from desert rocks such as basalt. These plants survive by extending their roots deep, up to a few meters into basalt fractures. Being legumes, their nitrogen comes from nitrogen gas fixing bacteria living symbiotically in their root nodules. It is hypothesized that these plants have unique mechanisms for the extraction of phosphorus and minerals. For example, they likely release biomaterials from their roots (acidic exudates) for the solubilization of phosphorus and minerals. The goal of this project is to deliver a safe and economical approach to extract phosphorus and minerals from Mars regolith via biomimicry of the growth of paloverde.

The main objectives of this proposed research are to: 1. Investigate phosphorus and mineral extraction biomechanisms utilized by paloverde to grow on basalt and Martian regolith simulant; and 2. Characterize biomaterials and their sources and rhizosphere microbial communities and their roles. We expect that the identified biomechanisms can be mimicked for the extractions of phosphorus and minerals from Martian regolith. We will conduct a detailed investigation on these extraction biomechanisms in a greenhouse using crushed basalt and Martian regolith like material (Mars Global Simulants) with no nutrient and mineral supplements.

We will monitor minerals and phosphorus released by basalt and the simulant and uptaken by the plant. The investigation will elucidate the involvements of rhizosphere microorganisms and plant exudates in phosphorus and mineral dissolutions through several advanced analytical and molecular biology techniques. For example, we will examine the microbial community of the rhizobacteria using high throughput sequencing. We will chemically characterize the plant exudates by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and chromatography and mass spectrometry. The vision of the project is not to grow paloverde on Mars but to characterize the biomaterials and biomechanisms which could potentially be adapted through biomimicry for the extraction of resources from Martian regolith and/or adopted through genetic engineering for growing other plants on Mars.

Our investigator team, which consists an interdisciplinary team of qualified engineer and scientist, will collaborate with a well-respected NASA planetary scientist with expertise astrobiology and terraforming. Research results will lead to the developments of two main project deliveries: 1. A verified biobased approach (biomechanism) to extract phosphorus and minerals from Martian regolith and 2. Biobased material(s) for the extraction.

Research findings will generate a peer reviewed article in a respectable journal (impact factor > 5) and one or more proposals to major federal funding programs. The proposed project aligns with the goal of the NASA Physical Sciences Program research emphasis “to develop and increase understanding of extraction techniques to generate useful materials from Lunar or Martian regolith.”

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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