Nature Communications (Oct 2021)

Designing the bioproduction of Martian rocket propellant via a biotechnology-enabled in situ resource utilization strategy

  • Nicholas S. Kruyer,
  • Matthew J. Realff,
  • Wenting Sun,
  • Caroline L. Genzale,
  • Pamela Peralta-Yahya

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26393-7
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 14

Abstract

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Returning from Mars to Earth requires propellant. The authors propose a biotechnology-enabled in situ resource utilization (bioISRU) process to produce a Mars specific rocket propellant, 2,3-butanediol, using cyanobacteria and engineered E. coli, with lower payload mass and energy usage compared to chemical ISRU strategies.