Greening Mars
Science fiction writers and scientists have long dreamed of how to transform Mars into a lush and green planet, a process called terraformation. This would be a very ambitious project, as Mars is currently a very harsh environment. It has a very thin atmosphere, no liquid water, and serious levels of radiation. The temperature is also, on average, -65C/-85F.
It is assumed that some level of megaprojects will be needed to terraform Mars. For example, we might need to warm the planet with metallic nanorods produced in industrial quantities. We might also extract some of the water trapped in the underground ocean 10-15km deep under the planet’s crust.
But even if these efforts warm the planet up somewhat, densify its atmosphere, and provide more moisture and liquid water, it will still be a very unforgiving place at first. Luckily, research on desert ecosystems on Earth gives us an outlook on how we could get life to start thriving on Mars.
Building Soil
Some of Earth’s organisms can grow in very harsh conditions directly on rocks, like lichens and cyanobacteria. They are often the last surviving life forms in places like deserts, naked rocks, and mountaintops.
However, they are very slow to grow and unlikely to accumulate enough biomass to really speed up the emergence of a strong Martian ecosystem.
Source: Encyclopedia Of The Environment
This is a problem, as any more complex ecosystem will need to grow in actual soil, which needs to contain a lot of organic matter. Soil is not just minerals and cannot be industrially produced; it will need to be generated by the ecosystem itself once humans initiate it.
For this, larger production of carbon-based biomass is required than what lichens will be able to produce.
More promising are mosses, thanks to their resistance to temperature and water stress, while still growing from photosynthesis and producing a substantial amount of biomass.
A key part of greening Mars’ desert will be to create a biological soil crust (BSC). BSC is a widespread type of ground cover often found in arid lands. It consists of organic complexes of cryptogamic plants such as lichens and mosses, microbes such as cyanobacteria, and the secretions from these organisms that become mixed with soil particles.
In some desert regions, BSC covers up to 70% of the area, significantly increasing the water-holding capacity and structural stability of the underlying sand.
Interestingly, BSC is responsible for 1/4th of the total biological nitrogen fixation of terrestrial ecosystems worldwide, and is often referred to as Earth’s “living skin.”
The Wonder Moss
Researchers from the State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology at the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography and the National Space Science Center at the Chinese Academy of Sciences worked together to identify a moss that could do the job on Mars.
They published their results in a scientific publication titled “The extremotolerant desert moss Syntrichia caninervis is a promising pioneer plant for colonizing extraterrestrial environments.
Syntrichia caninervis, also known as steppe screw moss, is a type of moss specialized in surviving harsh desert environments. It can be found all over the world, from Antarctica to the Tibetan Plateau to North Africa and North American deserts.
Source: Cell
Syntrichia is extremely resistant to desiccation, recovering after >98% water loss.
It can also survive temperatures as low as −196°C, much colder than even the worst temperature ever recorded on Mars, even less the more “clement” weather of the equatorial regions that can go above freezing water temperatures.
Impervious To Water Stress
The extreme resistance of Syntrichia to drought cannot be understated. The plant can lose almost all of its water and survive, turning into a dark green and then black color.
Even more impressively, the desiccated plants turn green and rapidly recover their photosynthetic capacity within seconds of rehydration.
Source: Cell
These plants remain photosynthetically active under snow cover and can maintain vigorous growth, contributing up to 49% of their annual total carbon fixation during the frequent freeze-thaw cycles in spring.
This might truly be essential if Mars’ weather stays barely above freezing in the early stages.
Survival To Cold
Regions beyond the Martian equator, as well as sand storm-stricken regions or the winter period, will expose the nascent Martian ecosystem to brutal cold periods lasting weeks or months.
The Chinese researchers took Syntrichia and exposed it to years of -80C/-112F temperatures. Even after 5 years of such treatment, no less than 90% of the plants survived.
They also tested them for up to a month in liquid nitrogen at the temperature of -196C/-320F. Even then, Syntrichia saw almost all the plants regrow when put back to warmer temperatures.
Source: Cell
So, it is safe to assume that, even today, with no terraformation effort, no Martian winter could kill Syntrichia.
Radiation Resistance
High-altitude plateaus like in Tibet are difficult environments not only because of the cold or dryness but also because of radiation levels due to the altitude. So it is maybe not surprising that Syntrichia is also very radiation resistant as well.
The researchers exposed the moss to various levels of radiation and measured its recovery rate.
They discovered that up to 500-Gy (gray, a radiation measurement unit), radiation even strongly promoted the regeneration of new branches.
Source: Cell
Above this level, the regeneration of new branches was slowed down, but not stopped, up to 8,000 Gy, which started to cause severe damage. 16,000 Gy would prove lethal.
For reference, half of humans will die under just 2.5–4.5 Gy, with severe convulsions and death occurring at around 50 Gy.
Testing Mars-like Conditions
The researchers used the Planetary Atmospheres Simulation Facility (PASF) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to see how the moss would fare under “real” Martian conditions. Instead of separate instances of condition testing, such as dry, cold, radiation, etc., the PASF also added the low oxygen and low nitrogen atmospheres that had not been tested separately.
While not exactly identical, it creates a very realistic simulation of today’s Martian growth conditions.
Source: Cell
Overall, all the plants survived the Martian conditions for up to 7 days and fully recovered afterward when exposed to Mars-like conditions when dry.
When exposed to it fully hydrated, they also survived, but regeneration was slower, and new branches were less numerous.
Source: Cell
However, it seems that the combination of low oxygen, radiation, and cold create an environment a little too harsh even for the steppe screw moss to grow actively, but it could survive it.
Natural And Artificial Evolution
A Wide Array Of Adaptations
The researchers also discussed the mechanisms by which steppe screw moss manages to survive the harsh conditions it lives in. Among others are:
- A state of selective metabolic dormancy under stress conditions, strategically preserving key metabolites.
- High levels of sucrose and maltose following stress, serving as osmotic agents & protectants helping preserve and stabilize cellular architecture.
- The sugars provide the energy needed for rapid recovery upon relief from stressful conditions.
- A strong ability to scavenge reactive oxygen species following stress by accumulating high levels of catalase, glutathione S-transferase, and peroxidase.
- Stress-related catalase genes and tandem duplication of S. caninervis genes encoding photoprotective early light-induced proteins.
- Overlapping leaves that conserve water and shield the plant from intense sunlight and white awns at the tops of leaves that reflect strong solar radiation and enhance water utilization efficiency
- During dehydration, the leaves became markedly curled and shrunken, and the leaf angles became smaller.
Optimizing Life For Mars
Natural Evolution
The remarkable survival ability of Syntrichia caninervis opens the way for it to progressively adapt to Martian conditions if given a little help.
This could be happening naturally, as long as some microbiomes offer the conditions for growth in a small area, for example maybe naturally warmer and more atmosphere-dense low-altitude canyons and craters around the equator.
From these initial growth areas, natural selection and spontaneous mutations could select traits required to colonize the rest of the planet.
Directed Evolution
Mankind is nowadays routinely using directed evolution to create new enzymes and organisms for its own purpose and industrial production, a feat rewarded by a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018. The same strategy could be deployed to create cyanobacteria, lichens, and mosses that are more resistant to Mars.
For example, we could start from almost Mars-like conditions, that are just slightly better but still harsher than Earth, allowing for Syntrichia (and other organisms) to grow. And then, progressively change the conditions so that only sub-sections of the population survive, carrying new traits and stronger resistance.
By repeating this process hundreds of times, we might get new species able to survive Mars conditions as they are today.
Even if it fails to reach that goal, the resulting mosses and microorganisms will likely better survive in a partially or poorly terraformed Mars than the original organisms straight from Earth.
Genetic Engineering
Researchers could also give a boost to the moss’s ability to survive on Mars by stimulating known genes already involved in cold/dry/radiation tolerance.
This could be done by increasing the expression levels of pre-existing Syntrichia caninervis’ genes like the aforementioned catalases, glutathione S-transferase, and peroxidase. Or by adding new genes from other species.
Determining what is the limiting factor for growth in Mars-like conditions will also be key. Is it insufficient resistance to radiation? To cold? To the atmospheric conditions?
Investing In Mars
We are too early to invest in terraforming megaprojects or Martian real estate. But a handful of companies are working hard in building the stepping blocks that will make it possible to land the first man on Mars, and later on colonize the planet.
A key part will be reusable rockets, dramatically reducing the cost of launching equipment into orbit and deep space. This effort is mostly currently led by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, a private company, with other rocket companies catching up quickly.
Another factor will be to create a self-sustaining space-based economy and Martian economy, able to support terraforming efforts without depending on Earthlings’ willingness to finance it “for free” (follow the links for more details on how it would work).
You can invest in aerospace companies through many brokers, and you can find here, on securities.io, our recommendations for the best brokers in the USA, Canada, Australia, the UK, as well as many other countries.
If you are not interested in picking specific aerospace companies, you can also look into ETFs like ARK Space Exploration & Innovation ETF (ARKX), iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA), or SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF, which will provide a more diversified exposure to capitalize on the aerospace industry.
Or you can read our article about the “Top 10 Aerospace and Defense Stocks”.
Investing In Space Companies
1. Virgin Galactic
The company was founded by Richard Branson and is focused on space tourism.
The tickets are in the $250,000-450,000 range, with a long waiting list. The first customers seem to be ecstatic with their experience:
“I always knew it was going to be the most extraordinary experience of my life. I always knew that. And people kind of told me it was going to be. But then when it is… and it’s on another level to the experience you thought you were going to have… then it’s very difficult to explain.”
“This has been the best day of my life, the most sensational day of my life. And you can’t get any better than that. It exceeded my wildest dreams.”
As we discussed before, space tourism might be THE center of the future Martian economy.
This is because not only will Mars provide a unique experience, but it will also have some of the most impressive features in the entirety of the solar system:
- The largest canyon in the solar system (4,000 km long, 200 km wide, and up to 7 km deep).
- A volcano of 21.9 km in height (72,000 ft) and roughly as large as France or the state of Arizona.
Source: Wikipedia
Before Mars, Virgin Galactic is aiming to become the leader of orbital (and later maybe lunar) tourism, more in reach of our current technical abilities before a Chinese or SpaceX Mars landing.
Virgin Galactic has been working on improving its unit economics, with a new launch system, the “Delta”, able to carry 6 passengers instead of 4, and to perform 8 flights/month instead of just one.
Together, these 2 improved metrics should boost revenue per unit by 12x, with a payback time of less than 6 months for each Delta shuttle. The Delta flight test is expected in mid-2025.
Source: Virgin Galactic
Markets were concerned when it was announced that Branson would not invest further into Virgin Galactic. Especially following the layoff of 185 employees and a pause of space flights in 2024, to wait for the arrival of the Delta shuttle and reduce cash burn speed.
Still, Virgin Galactic is forecasted to have enough cash to run until 2025 or 2026. So if the development of the Delta flight system goes smoothly (a risky proposition in the aerospace industry), the company should be able to focus on restarting and growing cash flow, with a system that is profitable on a unit basis. And make the company turn cash flow positive in 2026.
Source: Virgin Galactic
(It should be noted that Virgin Galactic is different from Virgin Orbit. Virgin Orbit filed for bankruptcy in April 2023, and provided launch services for small satellites, with Rocket Lab acquiring the company’s Long Beach facility, manufacturing, and tooling assets).
The recent bankruptcy of Virgin Orbit and distancing from Virgin Galactic by founder Richard Branson has damaged the company’s image with investors, resulting in a plummeting stock price in 2023 & 2024.
Source: Virgin Galactic
At the same time, the previous customers’ satisfaction, a clear plan for a profitable design (Delta shuttles), and a long waiting list of potential clients show that the company might still be viable even without raising more funds. So a lot will rely on the success of developing, manufacturing, and operating the Delta shuttle and achieving it before the end of 2025.
If this is the case, the much lower valuation would create an opportunity for investors to grab the company’s shares at a discount.
2. Ginkgo Bioworks
The company is producing on-demand organisms for specific applications, including biomedical applications and industrial and material sciences programs. It also has a large biosecurity segment, which was booming during the pandemic.
In most cases, some form of directed evolution is used in the production and selection of Gingko’s products. If humankind becomes serious about colonizing Mars, Gingko’s specialization in creating custom organisms through genetic engineering and direct evolution could make it a prime contractor and partner for these projects.
Ginkgo Bioworks has diversified in the last years its application range widely, with many research programs and partnerships:
It makes money by being first paid upfront for the development process and then through royalties on the finished product.
Gingko’s partnerships are constantly expanding, with:
Ginkgo Bioworks also partners with all the major agricultural corporations, most of which have some interests in biofuel production and microbiology. A few of these include Bayer, Cargill, Syngenta, Corteva, ADM, Exacta, and more.
Source: Gingko Bioworks
Gingko’s experience in custom designs of genetic sequences, organisms, and selection, as well as in biosecurity monitoring, makes it a key provider to every industry looking to leverage enzymes and antibodies for their specific application.
As a service provider, Gingko is well-positioned to capitalize on the growth of the synthetic biology industry as a whole.