Team:Stanford-Brown-RISD/Human Practices
Integrated Human Practices
Introduction
The impact of our project and researched conducted to bring it to fruition, will reach all the way from Earth to Mars. For that reason, we decided to define human practices in two different ways: how it will effect Mars and how it will effect the Earth.
For Mars we discussed with experts the parameters of our design and what cautionary steps we would need to talk in our design to not only protect travelers to Mars but the planet as well from contamination.
For earth we explored that technological implications of mycelium composites and how they could be used in sustainable industrial products and housing.
Below is how we engaged with experts and members of the community who had a stake by our research, for “Martian” and human practices.
Martian Habitats
The idea of people living on Mars is an inherently exciting prospect, and it can be a great deal of fun to dream of what the homes, or even cities, of a future martian colony would be like--will they be giant geodesic domes filled with lush greenery that dot the martian landscape and are connected by underground tunnels? Or will they be totally underground, an endless maze that will shield its inhabitants from the harsh cosmic rays? Or perhaps even crafted from ice--creating glistening ice sculptures upon the martian surface?
However, for our team just as alluring and fun as the imaginative aspect of designing for Mars is--which we certainly explored--was the challenge of designing our habitat to be a highly cost-effective, protective, and functional design.
There are a lot of moving parts that go into generating a design like this--from exploring the different options that exist already, to crafting the mission architecture, to considering the laws and regulation of planetary protection that would certainly impact our project.
In order to get the best possible answers to these questions we engaged directly with experts planning the exploration of Mars, and overseeing the protection of the planet.
We interviewed Dr. Michael Meyer, the lead scientist of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mgs/michael-meyer.html), to answer some of our primary questions about what the design of a human mission to Mars would like. We asked about which options for martian habitats are currently being explored by NASA--he shared two, both 3D printed structures, one created from a composite made from Martian regolith the other ice--as well as questions about the longevity that is required of the mission, the estimated budget, the kinds of experiments that would be run, the benefit of having people on Mars versus and Rover, and how does NASA define acceptable risk.
Team Members Emilia Mann, Leo Penny, and Javier Syquia meeting with Dr.Michael Meyer
Lisa Pratt, NASA Planetary Protection Officer
Amy Kronenberg and Emilia K Mann at the NIAC Symposium.
We also spoke with Dr. Lisa Pratt, NASA’s planetary protection officer, about concerns that may arise from the fact that we are using a biological material as our main building component. Pratt informed us that we needed to ensure that no spores would be able to form from our mycelium blocks, and to ensure that there will not be the creation of a superorganism due to the interaction between the mycelium and the substrate it eats. We were also reminded that there are specific parameters in regards to harvesting water from the Martian surface. But most importantly, Pratt emphasized that many of these regulations will be subject to change as real human missions to Mars are planned and that we therefore must remain adaptive and anticipate any potential issues.
Jim Head, a professor at Brown University in the Department of Geoscience, gave us excellent recommendations on potential landing sites for Mars as well as other important logistical information key to the mission architecture of our design.
Lastly, Amy Kronenberg, Biophysicist Staff Scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy Lawrence Berkeley Labs, as well as a member of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts advisory board, gave us great insight and critique on our radiation protection. We had initially planned to use melanin, but she encouraged us to focus on finding ways to increase the number of protons (hydrogen) present to protect from cosmic radiation as melanin is only useful for UV radiation which the mycelial structures themselves should do. As a result we shifted our focus to creating a design that contains a thin outer layer of water. She also provided us with important literature [0].
The information and feedback we received from these experts greatly informed our mission architecture––helping us to design a mission that not only fits NASA’s requirements but also protects the planet in order to ensure the integrity of scientific missions to Mars.
Sustainable Industrial Products
Phil Ross, of Mycoworks
Eben Bayer, of Ecovative
Rolando Perez, of the Endy Lab
We initially gravitated towards using mycelium as the core material in the design our habitat for Mars because of its self-perpetuating property--it can grow, given a substrate to bind, into the shape of any mold it is placed in. The results of our work demonstrated that we could produce a cost-effective, replicable habitat for Martian exploration.
However, as our research progressed and we spoke to more experts working with the material, we learned there was so much more to mycelium than its self-growing properties.
Phil Ross, one of the founders of MycoWorks,a company working to produce a more humane and sustainable leather from mycelium, was one of our first points of contact. He showed us a material produced from mycelium that behaved and looked just like leather. It was so unlike any of the solid mycelium bricks we had produced. He emphasized to us the ways in which the mechanical properties of mycelium can be manipulated by how it is grown and what is grown on.
This sentiment was echoed by Rolando Perez, a Ph.D. student focused on mycelium at Stanford University in the Drew Endy Lab. He also added that the strain of the mushroom can affect its material properties, and for that reason he is currently working on creating a fungal database in order to make information about mycelium more accessible to the public and other researchers.
Eben Bayer, one of the co-founders of Ecovative—a company that got its start producing mycelium based styrofoam—emphasized in our interview with him how he first got interested in mycelium because of how it can act as a natural glue, binding together diverse substrates to create new material that is completely biodegradable. As a company they have conducted many material tests and found the material to be strong and flame retardant.
Through these conversations it became clear to us that mycelium has the potential to revolutionize product manufacturing on earth, by introducing a completely biodegradable material that is also self-growing. These key characteristics will allow manufactures to cut back on the cost, time, energy, and environmental impact involved with traditional production methods. And the ability of manipulate the mechanical properties of the materials ensures that mycelium could be used as a substitute for a variety of products—from furniture to clothing to medical devices.
In response to this exciting realization we began exploring the ways mycelium could be used to create other products that might be necessary for our habitat--ranging from furniture, to scientific instruments, to a filtration system, to even a Rover chassis. We even generated some designs and prototypes for a few of these ideas, fully flushing out the idea of an entire living space created from one material.
One of first designs was a modular hexagonal stool that could be assembled into a larger surface through many units or separated into individual seating. We grew this stool by crating a hexagon mold from recycled cardboard and then stuffing the stool with aspen chips coated with mycelium. Within two weeks we had grown a fully functional stool! Images of us crafting, baking, and testing the tool can be seen below.
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Step 1: Grow mycelium on yard waste |
Step 2: After ~1 week of growth, transfer mycelium to mold. |
Step 3: Let mycelium grow; pictured above is after 1 week. |
 Stool after 2 weeks of growth. |
 Close-up of stool after 2 weeks of growth. |
 Outer growth of fruiting bodies taken off to reduce chance of spreading fungal spores. |
 Pictured above is team member Emilia Mann sitting on the stool after it has been baked. |
However, in order to have a holistic approach, we also wanted to understand what were the challenges of introducing this material to the public, something we questioned these pioneers on. They all echoed similar statements regarding some social resistance to the use of fungus in products. And perhaps the even greater challenge is shifting policy to favor the production of more sustainable products over cheaper, more environmentally damaging products. However, as Eben Bayer noted, opinions are changing and their continues to be growing excitement around mycelium and all the potential it has!