A biocatalytic reactor for Mars is a bioreactor that processes Martian water to reduce perchlorate. The processed water can then be used or further purified. 

The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program selected the concept for Phase I development. The process is sustainable, scalable, and eliminates the need to dump perchlorate and chlorate waste elsewhere. 

Biocatalysts can also support biomanufacturing on Mars. These biocatalysts can extract resources from the environment and transform them into products needed to sustain human life. 

Biocatalytic membrane reactors are widely used in different industrial applications, including those of the food industry.

Upon arrival at Mars, spores will be rehydrated and grown in a bioreactor that meets planetary protection standards. Martian water will be processed by the bioreactor to accomplish perchlorate reduction. Processed water can then be used or further purified as required

Mars is the next frontier of human space exploration, with NASA, China, and SpaceX all planning to send crewed missions there in the coming decades. In each case, the plans consist of establishing habitats on the surface that will enable return missions, cutting-edge research, and maybe even permanent settlements someday. While the idea of putting boots on Martian soil is exciting, a slew of challenges need to be addressed well in advance. Not the least of which is the need to locate sources of water, which consist largely of subsurface deposits of water ice.

The lead developer of this concept is Lynn Rothschild, a Senior Research Scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center (ARC) and the Research and Technology Lead for the Science and Technology Mission Directorate(STMD) at NASA HQ. As she and her colleagues noted in their proposal, the “scale of anticipated water demand on Mars highlights the shortcomings of traditional water purification approaches, which require either large amounts of consumable materials, high electrical draw, or water pretreatment.”

Detoxifying Mars is a proposed concept selected by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program for Phase I development. The process is highly sustainable, scalable, and eliminates the need to dump the perchlorate and chlorate waste elsewhere. The first step will be to engineer the genes PcrAB and cld into strains of Bacillus subtilis 168 bacteria

spores are rehydrated and grown in a bioreactor that meets planetary protection standards when they arrive at Mars. The bioreactor also processes Martian water to reduce perchlorate. The processed water can then be used or further purified. 

Planetary protection standards focus on spore-forming bacteria because these bacteria can survive harsh conditions for many years as inactive spores. Planetary protection requirements call for the entire Mars Science Laboratory flight system to launch with no more than 500,000 bacterial spores. 

Planetary protection technologies are used for cleaning and sterilizing spacecraft and handling soil, rock, and atmospheric samples. Precautions are taken against introducing microbes from Earth in the study of whether Mars has had environments conducive to life.

Here are some ways to remove perchlorate from Martian soil: 

• Rinse the soil: Perchlorate dissolves in water, so rinsing the soil can remove it. 
• Use perchlorate-eating bacteria: These bacteria produce oxygen as a metabolic byproduct. 
• Use a catalyst: A catalyst can be created by mixing sodium molybdate, molybdenum-bipyridine complex, and palladium on carbon. This catalyst can break down perchlorate in water using hydrogen gas at room temperature. 
• Use plants: Phytoremediation uses terrestrial and aquatic plants to remove perchlorate. This occurs through three mechanisms: phytoaccumulation, phytodegradation, and rhizodegradation. 

Other methods for removing perchlorate from water include: 

• Reverse osmosis membranes 
• TSSE 
• Biological remediation 
• Photochemically via UV light on a metallic iron catalyst 
• Anion exchange 
• Membrane filtration

Perchlorate (ClO4−) is a negative ion that is widespread in Martian soil at concentrations between 0.5 and 1%. This level is considered toxic to humans

The Mars Odyssey orbiter has detected perchlorates across the surface of the planet. The NASA Phoenix lander first detected chlorine-based compounds such as calcium perchlorate in 2008. The Sample Analysis at Mars instrument (SAM) on the Curiosity rover has also supported this finding. 

Perchlorate concentrations vary spatially and with depth, with values as high as 2 wt. %

However, if present, nitrate like perchlorate is decomposed by ionizing radiation (e.g., Hennig et al., 1953) and may contribute to the reactive nature of the martian soil

A bioreactor can process Martian water to reduce perchlorate. The processed water can be used or further purified as needed. 

Here’s how the bioreactor works: 

1. Martian soil, or regolite, enters the bioreactor and seals shut. 
2. Water flows through the regolite, cleansing the soil with perchlorate’s dissolving properties. 
3. The bioreactor uses modified E. coli to remove perchlorate from the water. 

Bioreactors are a type of biological treatment that involves pumping contaminated groundwater or process wastewater into a reactor vessel. The wastewater is then put into direct contact with microorganisms, which consume the perchlorate as a food source. 

Perchlorate is a chemical compound that contains the perchlorate ion, ClO₄⁻. It’s a conjugate base of perchloric acid, and is often used as an oxidizer for pyrotechnic devices. Perchlorate contamination can endanger human health, primarily affecting the thyroid gland.

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