Bricks of human blood to be “exploited” by scientists for Martian bases

Humans could soon be literally shedding their blood, sweat and tears in the colonization of Mars.

It takes a lot of money and manpower to travel the 246 million kilometers it takes to reach the Red Planet, let alone erect the necessary infrastructure to make it habitable.

This is the impetus behind the researchers’ macabre new venture – to save money by designing building components using human fluids. They already did it with urine; now they are looking for blood.

Researchers at the University of Manchester in England led the study, published Monday in the journal Materials Today Bio.

“The proverbial phrase ‘you cannot get blood from a stone’ is used to describe a task that is virtually impossible no matter how hard or exerted,” the authors wrote. “This phrase fits well with humanity’s first crewed mission to Mars, which will likely be the most difficult and technologically difficult human endeavor ever undertaken.”

They keep repeating that Earth-bound materials would necessarily stay there because the cost of transporting them would make the effort futile for a large majority of humanity. Rather, Martian resources will have to be tapped – and, instead, our own bodies.

Enter AstroCrete, a substance conjured and developed by astrochemists and engineers to serve as viable building blocks for infrastructure in space. Scientists believe that boosting protein in human blood imparts biological properties that could make bricks especially strong when mixed with Martian regolith, the dusty substance that coats the dehydrated planet.

This is because the protein in the blood will coagulate, or “curdle”, to help create a more robust bond, helping to strengthen AstroCrete block.

“The concept is literally bloodcurdling,” said lead author of the study, Dr. Aled Roberts.

Research is being done on the feasibility of using other bodily fluids. “Other human resources in situ, such as hair and nails (keratin), dead skin cells (collagen), mucus, urine and [feces] could also be exploited for their material properties on early extraterrestrial settlements, ”the team said.

“Unfortunately, due to health and safety concerns, we were unable to explore [feces]-based [extraterrestrial regolith biocomposites] in this study, ”they added.

AstroCrete is so effective that it could increase the compressive strength of regolith blocks by 300% or more, and moreover, be easily produced by 3D printing. Models indicate that a crew of six astronauts on Mars could produce more than half a ton of bio-bricks, about 1,100 pounds, in two years.

That’s about enough material for “[double] available accommodation ”during each mission.

Researchers say they are only removing a page from the book of prehistory, where archaeologists have returned time and time again to discover new innovations.

Dr Roberts said: “It is exciting that a major challenge in the space age has been able to find its solution based on inspirations from medieval technology. “