Red Lab

In RedLab we eksperiment with and validate the work done by Green Lab When the moss has been genetically modified to produce anti-freeze protein we want to test if this actually means our moss is more resistant towards cold. To do this we had to build our completely own experiment from scratch:

Testing the Moss

Building an Arduino circuit

Everything we need to build our Arduino circuit

DS18B20 temperature sensor

Working on building the circuit on the Aduino Breadboard

Circuit diagram: Normal power mode

Mars Chamber

Imagine being able to visit Mars on earth. With a press of a button you can change any variable, simulate any possible situation, and predict the future of Mars missions. This is not science fiction, but is achieved in the Mars Environmental Chamber at the Niels Bohr Institute.

The Mars Environmental Chamber simulates martian conditions in the laboratory and subjects samples to martian conditions.

Mars chamber

Temperature

Since temperature fluctuates on all areas of mars, it is vital for the survival of our moss that we test its ability to survive scathing changes in temperatures. The temperature on Mars may reach a high of about 20 degrees Celsius at noon, at the equator in the summer, but also low of about -153 degrees Celsius at the poles.

Mars surface temperature at night

SpaceMoss temperature experiment

Soil

Testing if moss can survive in soil similar to Martian soil is an interesting experiment for two reasons: 1. Although it would be possible to bring a media for the moss to grow in, it would save launch mass if the moss could grow in the soil already present. 2. Mars soil contains perchlorate which is poisonous and moss could potentially be used to detoxify the martian soil and make it safe for astronauts.

To test this we use the JSC-Mars-1-simulant soil which is as close as you get to actual Martian soil without leaving Earth. The image below shows the similarities between the two. The dotted line portrays actual measurements of the soil form the surface of Mars, while the solid line is the reflectivity spectra for JSC-Mars-1 simulant. Especially in the lower wavelengths the similarity is seen to be high.

Similarity between JSC-Mars-1-Simulant and Martian soil