This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Mars is a terrible place to build a house. It's bitterly cold, blasted by radiation and a near vacuum.
Not to mention that the building materials, even for a modest shelter, could spend months hurtling through space before construction begins. In a study published Sept. 10 in the journal Chem Circularity, researchers developed a recipe that could one day be used to 3D-print houses on Mars. The recipe combines Martian rocks with Earthly ingredients: gelatin and yeast.
Once dried and hardened, this living building material is as strong as low-grade concrete and can be broken down, recycled and brewed again for new construction. "My inspiration came from freeze-dried fruits that become harder," says civil engineer and senior author Jishen Qiu of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Mars's extremely low temperature and pressure create conditions similar to freeze-drying.
"So I asked myself if we can take advantage of that and make some materials." To conjure the printable material, Qiu needed the right mixture of sand and glue, the latter made from gelatin and a specialized yeast. The team engineered yeast coated with highly adhesive proteins, including those that mussels use to cling to rocks. The gelatin knits the ingredients together and provides a place for the cells to grow, while the sand gives mass and structure.
The team then tested the material in simulated Martian conditions. Once the mixture pushes through the nozzle, the extreme cold and low pressure freeze-dry it. Water freezes and turns directly from ice into vapor, leaving behind microscopic pores.
The result resembles a foam: light and porous. For now, the printed structures are wine-cork-sized domes, standing 45 mm tall and 30 mm wide. But the material itself is strong—with a compressive strength of 10 to 12 megapascals, comparable to low-grade concrete.
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