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The recent success of the Mars 2020 project and the high quality images relayed back to Earth have provided further impetus and expectations for human missions to Mars. To support space agency and private enterprise plans to establish a sustainable colony on Mars in the 2030s, synthetic biology may play a vital role to enable astronaut self-sufficiency. In this review, we describe some aspects of where synthetic biology may inform and guide resource utilisation strategies. We address the nature of Martian regolith and describe methods by which it may be rendered fit for purpose to support growth and yield of bioengineered crops. Lastly, we illustrate some examples of innate human adaptation which may confer characteristics desirable in the selection of colonists and with a future looking lens, offer potential targets for human enhancement.

Colonization of Mars: As humans gradually overcome technological challenges of deep space missions, the possibility of exploration and colonization of extraterrestrial outposts is being seriously considered by space agencies and commercial entities alike. But should we do it just because we potentially can? Is such an undoubtedly risky adventure justified from the economic, legal, and ethical points of view? And even if it is, do we have a system of instruments necessary to effectively and fairly manage these aspects of colonization? In this essay, a rich diversity of current opinions on the pros and cons of Mars colonization voiced by space enthusiasts with backgrounds in space technology, economics, and materials science are examined. Humans have long dreamt of traveling to and eventually colonizing the Red Planet and may finally get the chance to realize this dream. Yet, the possibility raises many questions. Will colonizing Mars become a “lifeboat” for life on Earth or a futile and expensive enterprise? The authors discuss often overlooked yet significant challenges related to the possibility of extra‐terrestrial colonization.

With Mars colonisation becoming a reality for the near future, it is of importance to analyse how crew and cargo can be transported between Earth and a colony on Mars. This article is a feasibility and design study of a launch vehicle whose mission is to shuttle crew and cargo from Low Mars Orbit to a colony on the Martian surface. A single-stage reusable rocket has been selected to fulfil this mission, code-named Charon. The mission profile of such a vehicle was created, leading to a Maximum Growth Allowance (MGA) Delta-V budget of 6.2 km/s. With the mission profile in mind, each subsystem underwent a preliminary design. With reliability and maintainability in mind, subsystems were designed for redundancy and modularity, and an abort system was included for an added level of safety. The iterative design process resulted in a vehicle with a MGA mass of 198.7 tons, capable of transporting 1200 kg of cargo and a crew of 6 people to a 500 km orbit and back. The preliminary design of the vehicle is deemed safe. Following a fault tree analysis, the Single Launch Loss of Mission, Vehicle and Crew (SL-LOM, SL-LOV, SL-LOC) probabilities are computed to be of 0.975%, 0.12%, and 0.079%. Finally, from the vehicle’s constraints on the base, the feasibility of the project has been reflected upon. It is deemed that such a concept is of high interest only when the base is already operational, due to the launch and maintenance infrastructure that it requires, as well as the power it requires from the Martian base.

From the farthest reaches of the universe to our own galaxy, there are many different celestial bodies that, even though they are very different, each have their own way of being beautiful. Earth, the planet with the best location, has been home to people for as long as we can remember. Even though we cannot be more thankful for all that Earth has given us, the human population needs to grow so that Earth is not the only place where people can live. Mars, which is right next to Earth, is the answer to this problem. Mars is the closest planet and might be able to support human life because it is close to Earth and shares many things in common. This paper will talk about how the first settlement on Mars could be planned and consider a 1000-person colony and the best place to settle on Mars, and make suggestions for the settlement’s technical, architectural, social, and economic layout. By putting together assumptions, research, and estimates, the first settlement project proposed in this paper will suggest the best way to colonize, explore, and live on Mars, which is our sister planet.

The vast universe, from its unfathomable ends to our very own Milky Way galaxy, is comprised of numerous celestial bodies—disparate yet each having their uniqueness. Amongst these bodies exist only a handful that have an environment that can nurture and sustain life. The Homo sapiens species has inhabited the planet, which is positioned in a precise way—Earth. It is an irrefutable truth that the planet Earth has provided us with all necessities for survival—for the human race to flourish and prosper and make scientific and technological advancements. Humans have always had an innate ardor for exploration—and now, since they have explored every nook and corner of this planet, inhabiting it and utilizing its resources, the time has come to alleviate the burden we have placed upon Earth to be the sole life-sustaining planet. With limited resources in our grasp and an ever-proliferating population, it is the need of the hour that we take a leap and go beyond the planet for inhabitation—explore the other celestial objects in our galaxy. Then, however, there arises a confounding conundrum—where do we go? The answer is right next to our home—the Red Planet, Mars. Space scientists have confirmed that Mars has conditions to support life and is the closest candidate for human inhabitation. The planet has certain similarities to Earth and its proximity provides us with convenient contact. This paper will be dealing with the conceptual design for the first city-state on Mars. Aggregating assumptions, research, and estimations, this first settlement project shall propose the most optimal means to explore, inhabit and colonize our sister planet, Mars.

The Red Planet has always been shrouded by a veil of romanticism and mystery, and humans have long dreamt of traveling to the planet and eventually colonizing it. Will colonizing Mars become a Noah's ark or a futile enterprise? In article number 1800062, Igor Levchenko and co‐workers discuss often overlooked, yet significant challenges related to the possibility of extra‐terrestrial colonization.

Plants in space face unique challenges, including chronic ionizing radiation and reduced gravity, which affect their growth and functionality. Understanding these impacts is essential to determine the cultivation conditions and protective shielding needs in future space greenhouses. While certain doses of ionizing radiation may enhance crop yield and quality, providing “functional food” rich in bioactive compounds, to support astronaut health, the combined effects of radiation and reduced gravity are still unclear, with potential additive, synergistic, or antagonistic interactions. This paper investigates the combined effect of chronic ionizing radiation and reduced gravity on Brassica rapa seed germination and microgreens growth. Four cultivation scenarios were designed: standard Earth conditions, chronic irradiation alone, simulated reduced gravity alone, and a combination of irradiation and reduced gravity. An analysis of the harvested microgreens revealed that growth was moderately reduced under chronic irradiation combined with altered gravity, likely due to oxidative stress, primarily concentrated in the roots. Indeed, an accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was observed, as well as of polyphenols, likely to counteract oxidative damage and preserve the integrity of essential structures, such as the root stele. These findings represent an important step toward understanding plant acclimation in space to achieve sustainable food production on orbital and planetary platforms.

The United Nations projects that the world population will likely reach 10.9 billion by the end of the century on a planet ill prepared to provide shelter, health care and food and water for its inhabitants. To decrease the planets population, ensure the long-term continuation of our species and the survival of our evolutionary branch, humanity needs to become a multi-planetary species. By going off world to colonize the solar system, the first explorers and the later colonizers will need to inhabit environments designed specifically to preserve their psychological wellbeing. Developing design parameters based on psychological factors will be of paramount importance to help humans deal with long journeys through space, and to create relaxing habitats to help decrease the stress that planetary explorers will be subjected to. The design community needs to become a participant in this process because solely engineered spaces are not enough to develop a good mental and physical quality of life for space exploration. There has been a tendency, with few exceptions, to not include design as an important aspect of the development of the government funded space programs all around the world. It was not until private capital started participating on the field and saw the opportunity to involve the public, that designers were invited to help sell the ideas of space exploration. In the future, the participation of the designer will need to transcend the role of the beautifier and we will need to become involved in all aspects of design that relate to the psychological wellbeing of the explorers. The development of off-planetary architecture will help humanity transition and mentally adapt to foreign environments. We need to understand that off-world habitats will require design that conveys familiarity to aid with our survival and prosperity, but more importantly, to remind us where we came from.

Searching for life is one of the most important targets of Mars exploration missions. It has been considered that the Martian subsurface, away from the extreme surface environment, is a potentially habitable region for microbial growth. However, the distribution pattern of potential microbial habitats in the Martian subsurface has yet to be evaluated. Here, we investigate the subsurface habitats to depths of 20–60 cm from various landscapes, including slopes, gullies, channels, playas, and alluvial fans across the Mars-analog Qaidam Basin, NW China. We characterize subsurface niches by measuring microbial biomass and radiocarbon ages, and correlate them with soil properties including depth, moisture content, total organic carbon content, electric conductivity, pH, evaporite and clay mineral contents. We find more habitable niches for microbial colonization at depths of 5–25 cm as compared with the surface and deep subsurface across the hyperarid Qaidam Basin. Maximum biomass and biotic activity could be correlated with physical stability, limited radiation, and short-term moderate water availability in the shallow subsurface in hyperarid deserts. The findings of this study provide new perspectives on subsurface microbial habitats in Mars-analog hyperarid deserts and ongoing biosignature detection on Mars.

Due to increasing population growth and declining arable land on Earth, astroagriculture will be vital to terraform Martian regolith for settlement. Nodulating plants and their N-fixing symbionts may play a role in increasing Martian soil fertility. On Earth, clover ( Melilotus officinalis ) forms a symbiotic relationship with the N-fixing bacteria Sinorhizobium meliloti ; clover has been previously grown in simulated regolith yet without bacterial inoculation. In this study, we inoculated clover with S . meliloti grown in potting soil and regolith to test the hypothesis that plants grown in regolith can form the same symbiotic associations as in soils and to determine if greater plant biomass occurs in the presence of S . meliloti regardless of growth media. We also examined soil NH 4 concentrations to evaluate soil augmentation properties of nodulating plants and symbionts. Greater biomass occurred in inoculated compared to uninoculated groups; the inoculated average biomass in potting mix and regolith (2.23 and 0.29 g, respectively) was greater than the uninoculated group (0.11 and 0.01 g, respectively). However, no significant differences existed in NH 4 composition between potting mix and regolith simulant. Linear regression analysis results showed that: i) symbiotic plant-bacteria relationships differed between regolith and potting mix, with plant biomass positively correlated to regolith-bacteria interactions; and, ii) NH 4 production was limited to plant uptake yet the relationships in regolith and potting mix were similar. It is promising that plant-legume symbiosis is a possibility for Martian soil colonization.