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ESA Conducts Mars Terraforming Experiments On ISS

Posted by samzenpus on from the give-those-people-air dept.

geegel writes "Space is a hostile environment for living things, but small organisms on the Expose-E experiment unit outside Europe's Columbus ISS laboratory module have resisted the solar UV radiation, cosmic rays, vacuum and varying temperatures for 18 months. A certain lichen seems to be particularly happy in open space."

6 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Mars by Chris+Lawrence · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yes, but it was way behind schedule and for a long time had only a minimum crew. They needed to spend all their time just maintaining the station which didn't leave any time for scientific research. Now, finally, they have a full crew and can actually get down to business.

  2. It's not open space... by Lumpy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's near earth orbit. INSIDE the magnetosphere which removes a huge amount of radiation from the equation.

    Big difference there.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:It's not open space... by RavenChild · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Exactly.

      Mars (along with Venus) do not have a magnetosphere in the same way Earth does. They have ionospheres that operate in similar fashion but the magnetic field only deflects a bit of the solar wind.

  3. Surviving exposure is different than living by holmstar · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This experiment just shows that the lichen was able to survive long term exposure to space. It doesn't say anything about growth, which is what you would need in order to do any sort of terraforming. It would be nice if they would give a bit more detail on the findings.

  4. Re:Mars by OolimPhon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You misunderstand. Actually building the thing has involved a whole lot of new engineering and scientific knowledge.

    Doing experiments now it's up there is fine, but just getting it up there taught us a lot (including, the shuttle was a bad idea).

  5. Re:Mars by Greg+Hullender · · Score: 3, Insightful
    On Earth, the Oxygen Cycle is about a million years. Seed Mars with plants, add water, and wait a million years. Presto! Instant oxygen atmosphere.

    Of course, advanced technology might cut that to as little as ten-thousand years . . .

    --Greg (Why I lost interest in terraforming)