NASA plans to build homes out of Mycelia fungi on Moon and Mars

Humans have always dreamt of living on Mars or the Moon and institutions like NASA are doing everything to make it come true. NASA is currently exploring technologies that could grow structures out of fungi on stars and it could easily become our future homes. The myco-architecture project out of NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley is prototyping technologies that could 'grow' habitats on the Moon, Mars and on other stars.

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Fungi homes on stars

According to Lynn Rothschild, the principal investigator on the project, NASA's current traditional habitat designs for Mars are like a turtle, carrying it on backs, a reliable plan but with huge energy costs. "Instead, we can harness mycelia to grow these habitats ourselves when we get there," Rothschild suggests. "This research is supported through the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program, known as NIAC, and is part of a field known as synthetic biology – the study of how we can use life itself as technology, in this case, fungi," NASA's official website on the project. 

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Mycelia could be used for water filtration and biomining systems that can extract minerals from wastewater, another project active in Rothschild's lab. It could be also used for bioluminescent lighting, humidity regulation and even self-generating habitats capable of healing themselves. And with about 40 per cent of carbon emissions on Earth coming from construction, there's an ever-increasing need for sustainable and affordable housing here as well. 

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Rothschild’s myco-architecture proposal was selected for a NIAC Phase I award in 2018. With a small amount of funding, Rothschild studied the overall viability of the concept and advanced the technology readiness level. The NIAC is known for its potential to create breakthrough technologies for possible future space missions, however, the project is currently in its early-stage and may never be an actual NASA mission but if successful the technology may rightfully be inducted into future space programmes. 

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