Researchers at the University of Birmingham, in collaboration with the Boulby Underground Laboratory, have initiated the Bio-SPHERE project in deep tunnels in North Yorkshire, to study potential living and operational conditions on the Moon and Mars. This innovative project explores how scientific, medical procedures, and bioengineering operations would be executed in challenging, remote, and isolated environments similar to those on other planets.
Deep beneath the surface of North Yorkshire, subterranean tunnels are offering a unique opportunity to study how humans might be able to live and operate on the Moon or on Researchers at the University of Birmingham have launched the Bio-SPHERE project in a unique research environment, located 1.1 km underground in one of the UK’s deepest mining sites. This project aims to explore how scientific and medical activities could be conducted amidst the demanding conditions found on Mars and the Moon.
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.
The team is working in partnership with the Boulby Underground Laboratory, a 4,000m3 deep underground facility focused on particle physics, Earth sciences, and astrobiology research, run by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (part of UK Research and Innovation) with the support of the Boulby Mine operators, ICL-UK.
The Bio-SPHERE project is based in a 3,000m3 tunnel network adjacent to the Boulby Laboratory, which go 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, has 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 on 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.
Bio-SPHERE, which includes a range of capabilities for sterile work and material processing, combines these simulation facilities and useful geological environments with access to the adjacent physics and chemistry laboratory facilities.
This environment provides the opportunity to simulate various mission scenarios and to conduct cutting-edge, interdisciplinary science, ranging from the effects of extreme environments on biological and physicochemical parameters and on medical infrastructure, all the way to investigating how available ‘in-situ’ resources such as ambient pressure, temperature and geology can be used for habitat construction.
Lead researcher Dr. Alexandra Iordachescu, in the
Reference: “Space habitats for bioengineering and surgical repair: addressing the requirement for reconstructive and research tissues during deep-space missions” by Alexandra Iordachescu, Neil Eisenstein and Gareth Appleby-Thomas, 25 March 2023, npj Microgravity.
DOI: 10.1038/s41526-023-00266-3