Everesh says it’s still possible that the fungus’s apparent radioprotective benefits are due to components of biological life other than melanin. For example, water, a molecule with a large number of protons in its structure (eight in the oxygen and one in each of the hydrogens), is one of the best ways to protect against protons zooming through space, an astrological equivalent of fighting fire with fire.
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Nevertheless, the findings open up interesting possibilities for solving the problem of space-based life. Both China and the US plan to build a base on the Moon in the coming decades, while Texas-based SpaceX aims to launch its first mission to Mars by the end of 2026, and land humans there three to five years later. Anyone living on these grounds would need to be protected from cosmic radiation. But using water or polyethylene plastic as a radioprotective cocoon for these bases may be too heavy for liftoff.
Metal and glass present a similar problem. Lynn J. Rothschild, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Ames Research Center, compared taking these materials into space to build space bases is like a turtle carrying its shell everywhere. ,[It’s] A reliable plan, but with huge energy costs,” she said in a 2020 NASA release.
His research has led to fungus-based furniture and walls that can be grown on the Moon or Mars. Not only would such a “micro-architecture” reduce lift-off costs, but – if Dadachova and Avresh’s findings prove correct – it could also be used to create a radiation shield, a self-regenerating barrier between space-faring humans and the storm of galactic cosmic radiation outside.
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