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Researchers from the University of Birmingham are studying how humans might be able to live and operate on the moon or on Mars by conducting studies in a unique research facility located 1.1 kilometres below the surface, in one of the deepest mine sites in the UK.
Their so-called Bio-SPHERE project investigates how scientific and medical operations would take place in the challenging environments of earth’s satellite and the red planet.
The team is working in partnership with the Boulby Underground Laboratory, a 4,000-square-metre deep underground facility focused on particle physics, earth sciences and astrobiology research, run by the Science and Technology Facilities Council with the support of the Boulby potash mine operators, ICL-UK.
The Bio-SPHERE project is based in a 3,000-square-metre tunnel network adjacent to the Boulby Laboratory. The tunnels 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-metre-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.
This environment also 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.
“The Bio-SPHERE project promises to help answer some key logistical questions in establishing sustainable living conditions in remote, subterranean environments and in doing so will significantly contribute to the essential preparations for our collective long, difficult and exciting journey ahead,” Sean Paling, director and senior scientist at the Boulby Underground Laboratory, said in a media statement.
“It is also a great example of the diverse range of scientific studies that can be carried out in a deep underground science facility, and we are very happy to be hosting it.”
