NASA's $ 1 Million Challenge for the Settlement of Mars: Turning CO2 into Sugar

An artist illustration of pioneering astronauts on Mars. To build an autonomous colony on the red planet will require to take advantage of the indigenous Martian resources, underlines the defenders of the exploration.

(Pat Rawlings / NASA)

If you know your chemistry lab, you could help humanity move to Mars and make money.

NASA challenges the United States to find a new and effective way to convert carbon dioxide into glucose, a simple sugar. The CO2 dominates the thin atmosphere of Mars, and the energy-rich glucose is an excellent fuel for the "bioreactors" of the milking of microbes that could make a variety of items for future settlers of the red planet , NASA officials said.

"Enabling a sustained human life on another planet will require a lot of resources, and we can not bring everything we need.We must be creative," said Monsi Roman, director of NASA's Centennial Challenges program. $ 1 million "CO2 Conversion Challenge". [8 Cool Mars Destinations Humans Could Explore]

"If we can turn an existing and abundant resource like carbon dioxide into a variety of useful products, space and ground applications are endless," said Roman in a NASA statement.

The new competition consists of two phases. In Phase 1, applicants submit a detailed description of their CO2-glucose conversion system. Interested parties must register by January 24, 2019 and submit their proposals by February 28, 2019.

In April, NASA will announce the selection of up to five finalists from this first crop, each receiving $ 50,000.

Phase 2 will include the construction and demonstration of a conversion system. Winning this round is worth $ 750,000, bringing the total purse to $ 1 million (assuming five finalists are actually selected from Phase 1).

You do not have to win or even participate in Phase 1 to participate in Phase 2. The challenge is open to citizens and permanent residents of the United States; Foreign nationals can compete if they are part of a US based team. To register or find out more, visit the CO2 Conversion Challenge website.

The Centennial Challenges program, led by NASA's Space Mission Directorate, aims to encourage the development of exploration technologies by mobilizing talented and innovative people beyond the traditional aerospace community.

Originally posted on Space.com.