Biological Soil Conditioning on Mars: Evaluating the Capacity of Fungal-Plant Co-Culture Systems to Sequester Atmospheric CO₂ and Transform Martian Regolith Simulants

2025/04/19 by Vassell, Brian
#Biology #FOS: Biological sciences #Life Sciences #Microbiology #Systems Biology

paper · doi:10.17605/osf.io/49nxv

Abstract

This project investigates fungal-plant co-cultures (Aspergillus tubingensis, Cryomyces antarcticus, Opuntia spp., cress) to reduce atmospheric CO₂ and biomineralize Martian regolith simulants (JSC Mars-1, MMS-2) for sustainable Mars ecosystems. Using a Python-based model and 30-day jar experiments, it evaluates CO₂ sequestration, biomass growth, and substrate transformation. Data, code, and results will be shared openly on OSF, with updates at key milestones (model calibration, data collection, analysis, reporting) to support reproducibility and advance astrobiology research.

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