Mining moon & mars with microbes: Biological approaches to extract iron from Lunar and Martian regolith
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Shewanella oneidensis is capable of biomining iron from lunar and Martian simulant.
“For example, the microorganism Shewanella onei densis has been shown to be capable of biomining iron from lunar and Martian simulant (Volger et al., 2020).”
From Cyanobacteria and microalgae in supporting human habitation on Mars (2022) · cites this paper as Volger et al., 2020
The Conclusion (page unavailable) identifies S. oneidensis as a promising iron-extraction candidate, but says the process estimates rely on literature data and require further experimental work. Section 3.2 (page unavailable) reports growth in Martian regolith simulant, not measured iron extraction; the paper does not show biomining from both lunar and Martian simulants. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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Cyanobacteria and microalgae in supporting human habitation on Mars
Mapstone, L. J., Leite, M. N., Purton, S., Crawford, I. A., & Dartnell, L. (2022) · Biotechnology Advances · doi:10.1016/j.biotechadv.2022.107946 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
“For example, the microorganism Shewanella onei-densis has been shown to be capable of biomining iron from lunar and Martian simulant (Volger et al., 2020).”
A comprehensive review of lunar-based manufacturing and construction
Azami, M., Kazemi, Z., Moazen, S., Dubé, M., Potvin, M.-J., & Skonieczny, K. (2024) · Progress in Aerospace Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.paerosci.2024.101045 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
- Authors
- Volger, R., Pettersson, G. M., Brouns, S. J. J., Rothschild, L. J., Cowley, A., & Lehner, B. A. E.
- Affiliations
- Delft University of Technology (NL)
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology (SE)
- Ames Research Center (US)
- European Astronaut Centre (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Cowley, A.
- Lehner, B.A.E.
- Venue
- Planetary and Space Science
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2020-05
- Volume
- 184
- Pages
- 104850
- ISSN
- 0032-0633 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3002041682
- Cited by
- 43
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9
- FWCI
- 2.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Planetary and Space Science (publishedVersion)
- Research Repository (Delft University of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Planetary Science and Exploration
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Metal Extraction and Bioleaching
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
- Keywords
- in-situ resource utilization, lunar regolith, Martian regolith, Shewanella oneidensis, bioleaching, magnesium perchlorate, regolith simulants, water reuse, payback period
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