Cyanobacteria for the Global Space Biology Program: Challenges and Opportunities

Space microbiological research, with a particular emphasis on cyanobacteria and microalgae, has garnered significant attention over the past five decades. The quest for suitable microbes is pivotal in facilitating human habitation on both Luna and the Martian surface, given the inhospitable atmospheric conditions, including low temperature, atmospheric pressure, and the imperative need for fundamental life-sustaining resources such as oxygen and water. This chapter elucidates the pivotal role of these microorganisms in supporting manned missions to Mars, examining the current landscape of research successes and failures in establishing a sustainable bioregenerative life support system (LSS). It explores ongoing endeavors to unravel mysteries and identifies prospective avenues for further investigation. Furthermore, it probes the potential of these microbes to instigate oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon cycles within closed-loop systems, thereby diminishing reliance on resource storage or resupply missions and, consequently, mitigating the overall cost of space missions. The chapter also scrutinizes the technical challenges encountered in cyanobacteria and microalgae space experiments, particularly in their cultivation on Luna and Mars. Nevertheless, current research remains confined to a limited array of microbes, leaving a plethora of unresolved issues, including the imperative task of large-scale cultivation of these organisms amidst the synergistic effects of substantial stresses such as weightlessness, cosmic radiation, elevated CO2 levels, and low atmospheric pressure, all crucial for both lunar and Martian manned space missions.