![\"Image](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/image_14569_1e-Asteroid-Biomining-1200x675.jpg.webp.webp\")
NASA astronaut Michael Scott Hopkins performs a microgravity experiment on the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA.<\/p>\n
In an unprecedented experiment aboard the ISS, scientists tested the use of Sphingomonas desiccabilis, a bacterial species, and Penicillium simplicissimum, a fungal species, to extract metals from L-chondrite asteroidal material. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is probably the first experiment of its kind on the International Space Station on meteorite,\u201d said Dr. Rosa Santomartino, a researcher at Cornell University and the University of Edinburgh. <\/p>\n
Microgravity: A Unique Challenge for Microbial Behavior<\/p>\n
One of the central questions of the BioAsteroid project was how the microbes would behave in space, particularly in microgravity conditions. On Earth, gravity plays a significant role in the behavior of living organisms, influencing everything from fluid movement to the way microbes interact with materials. In space, however, gravity is nearly nonexistent, which can lead to unexpected changes in biological processes. \u201cWe wanted to keep the approach tailored in a way, but also general to increase its impact,\u201d Santomartino explained, emphasizing the need for broad applications beyond just the experiment at hand.<\/p>\n
The experiment involved exposing the microbes to asteroid fragments, specifically L-chondrite material, under both microgravity and terrestrial gravity conditions. \u201cThese are two completely different species, and they will extract different things,\u201d Santomartino noted. This variety allowed researchers to explore how each microbe might extract different metals and how they function in space compared to Earth. In their analysis, the researchers sought to understand not just the metals extracted but also the processes driving these extractions.<\/p>\n
The Results: Microbial Behavior and Metal Extraction<\/p>\n
The research revealed some surprising findings. The microbes exhibited different extraction efficiencies based on the metal being targeted and the conditions they were in. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe split the analysis to the single element, and we started to ask, OK, does the extraction behave differently in space compared to Earth?\u201d said Dr. Alessandro Stirpe, also from Cornell and the University of Edinburgh. <\/p>\n
The results were not entirely predictable, suggesting that different metals responded differently to microbial extraction, and this response varied with both the species of microbe used and the gravity conditions.<\/p>\n
Some elements, such as palladium, platinum, and others, were extracted in larger quantities when microbes were used compared to non-biological extraction methods. However, the results also showed that non-biological leaching performed less effectively in microgravity compared to Earth-based experiments. Dr. Santomartino emphasized that \u201cIn these cases, the microbe doesn\u2019t improve the extraction itself, but it\u2019s kind of keeping the extraction at a steady level, regardless of the gravity condition.\u201d This suggests that microbes may provide a more reliable method for resource extraction, especially in environments where traditional methods might struggle.<\/p>\n
A Step Towards Sustainable Space Mining<\/p>\n
While the study\u2019s findings were fascinating, they also opened up new questions about the viability of using microbes for large-scale space mining. The ability to extract 44 different elements, with 18 biologically extracted, shows that microbial methods could be a promising option for future space missions. However, the varying results between different metals and microbes suggest that more research is needed to fine-tune the process.<\/p>\n
Dr. Stirpe raised a key point in this context: \u201cAre these elements more extracted when we have a bacterium or a fungus, or when we have both of them?\u201d This question is critical for understanding how to optimize the microbial mining process for different materials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As humanity pushes the boundaries of space exploration, one of the key challenges is how to access resources…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291974,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[111,139,69,147,392],"class_list":["post-291973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}