Sustaining a Mars Colony through Integration of Single-Cell Oil in Biological Life Support Systems

Abstract

As humanity sets its sights on establishing a sustainable and prosperous colony on Mars, the main challenges to be overcome are ensuring a reliable and nutritious food supply for settlers, feedstock for 3D printing, fuel and pharmaceuticals. While various solutions for production of essential products on Mars have been proposed, there is growing interest in the use of microorganisms as the main production units. This scientific review article proposes a novel concept of using single cell oil (SCO) as a versatile feedstock for various applications in a bioregenerative life support system (BLSS) for space missions. The authors suggest using outputs from autotrophic systems, such as cyanobacteria biomass and oxygen, to cultivate SCO-producing microorganisms from the class Labyrinthulomycetes. The produced SCO can be used for food, fuel, 3D printing materials, and pharmaceuticals. This approach can potentially reduce the importance of carbohydrates in space foods, offering various benefits, including a reduction in food weight, simpler, lightweight, more compact bioreactors, launch cost reduction, potentially improved mental and cognitive performance, and reduced fatigue for the crew. The authors also suggest using SCO as the feedstock for the production of 3D printable filaments and resins and as a supplementary fuel source for space colonies. While the concept is hypothetical, the theoretical foundation is solid, and this approach could potentially become an important element required for the establishment of a successful Mars colony.

The Role of Environmental Communication in Advancing Sustainability in Fisheries and Aquaculture: A Case Study of Latvia

“…Linking the multi-criteria analysis to the sustainability pillars, it can be concluded that the results with sustainable aquaculture and fisheries products were in line with the economic sustainability pillar as well as the social and environmental pillars. At the moment, Latvia is on the way to developing the aquaculture sector, which can be justified by the development of new companies in Latvia (SpirulinaNord), the inclusion of new products on the market and the important scientific research (K. Spalvins et al [62]) being carried out to think about the growing demand for easily obtainable proteins.…”