
NSF Org: |
EFMA Office of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) |
Recipient: |
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Initial Amendment Date: | September 16, 2022 |
Latest Amendment Date: | July 15, 2024 |
Award Number: | 2223829 |
Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
Program Manager: |
Gregory Rorrer
grorrer@nsf.gov (703)292-7470 EFMA Office of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) ENG Directorate for Engineering |
Start Date: | September 1, 2022 |
End Date: | August 31, 2026 (Estimated) |
Total Intended Award Amount: | $1,886,505.00 |
Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $1,591,004.00 |
Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2023 = $295,502.00 FY 2024 = $295,502.00 |
History of Investigator: |
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Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
660 S MILL AVENUE STE 204 TEMPE AZ US 85281-3670 (480)965-5479 |
Sponsor Congressional District: |
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Primary Place of Performance: |
ORSPA, P.O. Box 876011 Tempe AZ US 85287-6011 |
Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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Parent UEI: |
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NSF Program(s): | EFRI Research Projects |
Primary Program Source: |
01002324DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002526RB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002425DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002324RB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
Program Reference Code(s): | |
Program Element Code(s): |
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Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.041 |
ABSTRACT
A human mission to Mars is projected to take place by the late 2030s. Identifying viable sources of food will be critical to a successful mission given the significant distance between Earth and Mars. However, the Martian soil contains perchlorate salts at concentrations that are toxic to most forms of life including plants and crops. The overarching goal of this project is to explore the development and implementation of a microbially catalyzed soil genesis process that could remove perchlorate from Martian regolith while producing a soil containing the required organic carbon and inorganic nutrients to support plant growth and cultivation. To advance this goal, the project team proposes to investigate how to tune the bioweathering of Martian soil simulants by selected microbial consortia to generate viable soils that could support plant growth and crop cultivation on Mars. The successful completion of this project will benefit society through the generation of fundamental knowledge and the identification of microbial consortia that could convert sterile and toxic soils, such as the Martian regolith, to organic and nutrient rich soils that can sustain plant growth and crop cultivation. Additional benefits to society will be achieved through education and training including the mentoring of one postdoctoral researcher, one graduate student, and two undergraduate students at Arizona State University, one graduate student and one undergraduate student at the Florida Institute of Technology, and one graduate student at the University of Arizona.
Mars regolith, or the surface material of Mars, is sterile with high concentrations of toxic perchlorate salts. In addition, the Mars regolith is devoid of soil organic matter (SOM) making plant cultivation for bio-regenerative life support and food production on Mars extremely challenging. The goal of this project is to design and develop scalable microbiological technologies and solutions to generate an organic and nutrient rich soil from Martian regolith. The guiding hypothesis of the proposed research is that the core metabolic processes of selected microbial consortia can be tuned to couple the production of a chemically diverse and stable SOM with the microbial reduction of perchlorate salts in Martian regolith. The specific objectives of the research include 1) experimental investigations of the extents and rates of perchlorate reduction by the selected microbial consortia under relevant Mars conditions using unsaturated and saturated regolith simulants, 2) characterization of the composition of the SOM and the bioavailable elements/nutrients that are generated from the microbial weathering of Mars regolith simulants using high resolution mass spectrometry coupled with liquid chromatography, and 3) demonstration of sustained seed germination and plant growth in the soil samples generated from the microbial weathering of Martian regolith simulants. The successful completion of this project has the potential for transformative impact through the generation of fundamental knowledge and the development of new methods to enable the conversion of sterile and toxic soils to organic and nutrient rich soils that could support plant growth and crop cultivation. To implement the education and outreach activities of the project, the Principal Investigators (PIs) propose to develop and implement a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program to support the training of eight high school teachers at Arizona State University (ASU). In addition, the PIs plan to integrate the findings from this research into existing graduate/undergraduate courses and public outreach activities at their respective institutions including a yearly Open Door public outreach event at ASU and STEM podcasts of the Florida Institute of Technology NPR affiliate station with a focus on topics related to bioweathering, microorganisms for space exploration, and plant growth and crop cultivation in Martian regolith.
This project is jointly sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Office of Emerging Frontiers and Multidisciplinary Activities (EFMA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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