Researchers propose building houses on Mars using a 3D printer. The material would be a mixture of local materials with gelatin and yeast. The researchers believe that after hardening, it would have sufficient strength.
A 3D Printer for Mars
Researcher Zhisheng Qiu of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology proposes using a gelatin- and yeast-based mixture to construct buildings on Mars. It would be used as a material for 3D printing. According to phys.org, an article on the subject was published in the journal Chem Circularity.
In general, the idea of using 3D printers for constructing buildings in space, and on the Red Planet in particular, is far from new. Transporting prefabricated structures from Earth is simply too expensive. And construction work performed by people wearing spacesuits is an extremely difficult task.
Researchers also fully understand that, wherever possible, the printing material should be produced from what is available locally. Everyone also agrees that its base should consist of local small rocks, sand, and dust. The only remaining question is the binder — a substance that would initially be liquid and then harden and gain strength.
Yeast as a Binder
The main problem is that traditional binders such as gypsum, lime, and cement hardly harden at all in the cold and dry climate of Mars. The water they need for hydration would simply freeze or evaporate before becoming chemically bound. In addition, the limestone required to produce the latter two materials is absent.
This is where the idea of using gelatin and yeast comes in. These organic materials also contain a large amount of water. However, according to the study’s author, freezing followed by evaporation does not interfere with their hardening. They simply turn into a solid film.
If this is indeed the case and they can firmly bind inorganic components together, it could provide a real solution to the problem of construction on Mars. Yeast and other organic materials could also be grown directly on the Red Planet instead of being transported from Earth.
The author says he was inspired to pursue this solution by freeze-dried fruit, which becomes very hard when dehydrated. However, this is more than just an idea. He has already managed to print the first test sample, 30 mm high and 45 mm in diameter. Its strength turned out to be fairly similar to that of relatively weak concrete. The next step is larger-scale testing.
