Mycolith
Mycelium-based regolith stabilization on Mars
The Mycolith project is about developing the bio-fabrication strategy for stabilizing regolith using mycelium, to construct habitat structures, in resource-limited space environments. The project focuses on tackling distinct environmental challenges, such as extreme temperatures and radiation while prioritizing efficient resource utilization. It aims to decrease dependence on external resources, reduce energy usage, and reduce waste production, all to mitigate its influence on lunar and Martian environments while improving long-term sustainability.
Company/Institution
Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment
Our vision is to make built environments which are life-sustaining and sustained by life. Our mission is to develop biotechnologies to create a new generation of ‘Living Buildings’ which are responsive to their natural environment; grown using living engineered materials to reduce inefficient industrial construction processes; metabolise their own waste, reduce pollution, generate energy and high-value products and modulate their microbiome to benefit human health and wellbeing.
Country
United Kingdom
Designer(s)
Monika Brandić Lipińska
Monika Brandić Lipińska is a PhD researcher at the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment, with a background in architecture and space studies. She sees tremendous potential in biological solutions for developing our future on Earth and in space. Through the integration of low-technology readiness level construction systems and in-situ resource utilization, tightly intertwined with biological processes, her work focuses on developing human-oriented and livable habitats in space and extreme environments. Monika is a co-founder of Bio-Futures for Transplanetary Habitats.