In situ biological resources: Soluble nutrients and electrolytes in carbonaceous asteroids/meteorites. Implications for astroecology and human space populations

Abstract

Ecosystems in space will need in-situ bioavailable nutrients. The measured nutrients in meteorites allow experiment-based estimates of nutrients in asteroids, and of the biomass and populations that can be derived from these in situ bioresources. In this respect, we found that carbonaceous chondrite meteorites can support microorganisms and plant cultures, suggesting that similar asteroid materials are also biologically fertile. The sustainable biomass and populations are determined by the available resource materials, their yields of nutrients and biomass, the biomass needed to support human populations, the duration of the ecosystem, and wastage. The bioavailable C, N, and electrolytes in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites vary as CM2 > CR2 > CV3 > CO3 > CK4 > CK5 in correlation with petrologic type, including aqueous alteration.Their average bioavailable C, N, K and P can yield 2.4, 3.5, 2.5, and 0.08 g biomass/kg resource material, respectively, showing phosphorus as the limiting nutrient. On this basis, soluble nutrients in a 100 km radius, 10 19 kg resource asteroid can sustain an ecosystem of 10 8 kg biomass and a human population of 10,000 for >10 9 years, and its total nutrient contents can sustain a population of one million, by replacing a wastage of 1% of the biomass per year. Overall, the total nutrient contents of the 10 22 kg carbonaceous asteroids can yield a biomass of 10 20 kg that supports a steady-state human population of one billion during the habitable future of the Solar System, contributing a time-integrated biomass of 10 22 kg-years. These astroecology estimates use experimental data on nutrients in asteroids/meteorites to quantify the sustainable biomass and human populations in this and similar solar systems.

Astroecology, cosmo-ecology, and the future of life

“…In these studies, meteorite models of asteroid materials showed that bacteria, algae and plants can grow on asteroid/meteorite organics and electrolytes, with fertilities similar to productive agricultural soils [4,8,9,26,[57][58][59][60][61]. Based on the measured soluble nutrient contents, asteroid resources can yield a biomass of 10 18 kg in the Solar System.…”

“…The resources and populations in various stages of space settlements, up to cities of millions, were examined recently [26].…”

CI Asteroid Regolith as an In Situ Plant Growth Medium for Space Crop Production

“…Of particular interest are those that have hydrated minerals on their surfaces (Feierberg et al 1981;Milliken & Mustard 2007;Alexander et al 2012). With the recent data received from the Hayabusa 2, OSIRIS-REx missions, and their meteorite analogs, the C-type asteroids are of interest for crewed missions, as they have been postulated to contain hydrated minerals, rare-earth elements (albeit in low abundance), and bioavailable nutrients that could sustain sizable populations, particularly in space agriculture (Jones et al 1990;Gaffey et al 1993;Merényi et al 1997;Jewitt et al 2007;Mautner 2014;Martínez-Jiménez et al 2017). Both the CI and CM subclasses of the carbonaceous chondrite meteorites are targets for use in space agriculture owing to their relatively high carbon content (1.5%-6%) and degree of aqueous alteration (Wasson & Kallemeyn 1988;Cruikshank 1997;Scott & Krot 2003).…”