One-point-one kilometers below the surface, tunnels in North Yorkshire offer a unique opportunity to study how humans might be able to live and operate on the Moon or on Mars. Researchers have now launched the “Bio-SPHERE project” in a unique research facility located, in one of the deepest mine sites in the UK. The project aims to learn how scientific and medical operations would take place in the challenging environments of the Moon and Mars.
In a 4,000-meters-deep underground facility, usually focused on particle physics, Earth sciences and astrobiology research, a team from the University of Birmingham is working in partnership with the Boulby Underground Laboratory. It is the first of a series of new laboratory facilities planned to study how humans might work – and stay healthy – during long space missions, a key requirement for ensuring mission continuity on other planets.
This new capability will help to gather information that can advise on the life support systems, devices and biomaterials which could be used in medical emergencies and tissue repair following damage in deep-space missions.
The Bio-SPHERE project is based in a 3,000-meter tunnel network adjacent to the Boulby Laboratory, which goes through 250-million-year-old rock salt deposits, consisting of Permian evaporite layers left over from the Zechstein Sea. This geological environment, together with the deep subsurface location, have enabled researchers to recreate the operational conditions humans would experience working in similar caverns on the Moon and Mars. This includes remoteness, limited access to new materials and challenges in moving heavy equipment around.
At the same time, thanks to the ultra-low radiation environment provided by that depth, the location will enable scientists to investigate how effective underground habitats might be in protecting space crews from deep-space radiation, which is a significant risk in space exploration, as well as other hazards, such as falling debris from meteorites, which risks damaging the life-support infrastructure.
The first facility to be opened as part of Bio-SPHERE (Biomedical Sub-surface Pod for Habitability and Extreme-environments Research in Expeditions), is based in a 3-meter-wide simulation module and is designed specifically to test biomedical procedures needed to prepare materials for treating tissue damage. These include complex fluids, polymers and hydrogels for regenerative medicine that could be used, for example, in wound dressings, or fillers for damage mitigation.
A paper describing the concept and design of such a habitat was recently published in Nature (NPJ) Microgravity (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41526-023-00266-3).
Bio-SPHERE, which includes a range of capabilities for sterile work and material processing, combines these simulation facilities and useful geological environment with access to the adjacent physics and chemistry laboratory facilities.
In a 4,000-meters-deep underground facility, usually focused on particle physics, Earth sciences and astrobiology research, a team from the University of Birmingham is working in partnership with the Boulby Underground Laboratory. It is the first of a series of new laboratory facilities planned to study how humans might work – and stay healthy – during long space missions, a key requirement for ensuring mission continuity on other planets.
This new capability will help to gather information that can advise on the life support systems, devices and biomaterials which could be used in medical emergencies and tissue repair following damage in deep-space missions.
The Bio-SPHERE project is based in a 3,000-meter tunnel network adjacent to the Boulby Laboratory, which goes through 250-million-year-old rock salt deposits, consisting of Permian evaporite layers left over from the Zechstein Sea. This geological environment, together with the deep subsurface location, have enabled researchers to recreate the operational conditions humans would experience working in similar caverns on the Moon and Mars. This includes remoteness, limited access to new materials and challenges in moving heavy equipment around.
At the same time, thanks to the ultra-low radiation environment provided by that depth, the location will enable scientists to investigate how effective underground habitats might be in protecting space crews from deep-space radiation, which is a significant risk in space exploration, as well as other hazards, such as falling debris from meteorites, which risks damaging the life-support infrastructure.
The first facility to be opened as part of Bio-SPHERE (Biomedical Sub-surface Pod for Habitability and Extreme-environments Research in Expeditions), is based in a 3-meter-wide simulation module and is designed specifically to test biomedical procedures needed to prepare materials for treating tissue damage. These include complex fluids, polymers and hydrogels for regenerative medicine that could be used, for example, in wound dressings, or fillers for damage mitigation.
A paper describing the concept and design of such a habitat was recently published in Nature (NPJ) Microgravity (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41526-023-00266-3).
Bio-SPHERE, which includes a range of capabilities for sterile work and material processing, combines these simulation facilities and useful geological environment with access to the adjacent physics and chemistry laboratory facilities.
AR #129
Hidden Living Space on Moon & Mars
