Team:UNIK Copenhagen


Project SpaceMoss

SpaceMoss is an interdisciplinary team of students, including biologists, physicists, and business students, who are working on bringing us one step closer to a human presence on Mars.

Specifically, SpaceMoss is working on a new breed of moss designed to survive on the red planet. Moss can be engineered to produce an almost limitless variety of compounds, and the implications are enormous. If we can get designed moss to grow on Mars, it could potentially provide pharmaceuticals for the first colonists, plastics for use in 3D printers on the first Mars outpost, or even long term terraforming of the entire planet.

But creating moss capable of surviving the harsh Martian conditions is no trivial task. One challenge for our moss, and the one we’ve decided to tackle first, is the violent temperature fluctuations on Mars. Therefore, our Green Lab is currently hard at work creating freeze-resistant moss, while our [Red Lab] is busy setting up experiments to simulate the conditions on the surface of Mars, in order to test the viability of our Moss.

Our webpage is still under construction, but you can already go [meet the team], or [read more about our project]. More information, photos etc. will come as our work proceeds, so stay tuned, and make sure to follow us on [twitter] and [facebook] for the latest news!

Our webpage is under construction. However, you can already get to know the team and our project. Please have a look. More information, photos etc. will come as our work proceeds so stay close!

SpaceMoss is made up of an interdisciplinary team of biologists, physicists, and business students. Meet the team!




Red Lab and Green Lab

Red Lab
In the 'Red Lab', the team will expose the moss to harsh martian conditions, including extreme temperature differences, fake martian soil, radiation exposure, pressure and CO2 concentrations. More about Red Lab
Green Lab

The 'Green Lab' is working on modifying the moss to survive the extreme temperatures, and then also producing useful compounds. We will insert an 'anti-freeze' gene from a ringworm. This amazing feature works by attaching onto the ends of the ice crystals forming in the cell, slowing down the rate of freezing.

Then, we will attempt to produce resveratrol in the moss, demonstrating the potential of using the hardy moss to produce compounds, such as pharmaceuticals which have shelf lives shorter than the trip between the planets. More about Green Lab