Life on Mars without a suit could be possible

The Martian atmosphere makes any human survival impossible: it is indeed 96% saturated with carbon dioxide. To live on the red planet, you have to live in facilities provided for this purpose, and to set foot on Martian soil, suits will be essential. In this context, it is difficult to imagine colonization, unless a way is found to create a habitable atmosphere.

Cyanobacteria to the rescue

Cyanobacteria may well be that medium. Researchers from the Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) and a team from the University of Bremen, Germany, have published a study about those microscopic living things that are able to create oxygen by converting carbon dioxide. Their secret? Photosynthesis capacities.

This bacterium is particularly resistant to extreme, even hostile, conditions, such as on another planet. The good news is that the cyanobacteria were able to grow in an environment similar to that of Mars, reproduced in the laboratory. The bad news is that you have to send them there, in large quantities, and then be patient for them to produce enough oxygen to support human life.

It should also be added that the pressure on Mars is very different, it is only 1% of that of the Earth. Cyanobacteria are strong, but are they strong enough to hold on, reproduce and generate oxygen? This is why the researchers indicate that it is only a project.

While waiting for the solution of cyanobacteria to materialize, it is possible that man will finally take a first step on Mars. Elon Musk, who has never been afraid of big predictions, has already had the opportunity to announce that the planet could be home to a colony of one million people by 2050. With or without bacteria…