Growing Bacteria (Anabaena) in the Martian Atmosphere
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Department
Physics
Abstract
Growth of anabaena, a genus of oxygen producing Cyanobacteria, could be used to oxygenate the Martian atmosphere, and help the soil retain water. The Martian atmosphere is mostly CO2 and has a pressure 100 times less than that of earth's largely nitrogen based atmosphere. Few studies have examined the effects of atmospheric pressure or CO2 concentration on the growth of Anabaena. I will conduct an experiment to determine the minimum CO2 concentration under which anabaena can successfully reproduce. This experiment will use a home-built vacuum chamber that will allow the pressure and CO2 concentration to be gauged for the extent of each two week trial. I hope my findings will aid research towards understanding the suitability of anabaena toward terraforming the Martian atmosphere.
Growing Bacteria (Anabaena) in the Martian Atmosphere
Growth of anabaena, a genus of oxygen producing Cyanobacteria, could be used to oxygenate the Martian atmosphere, and help the soil retain water. The Martian atmosphere is mostly CO2 and has a pressure 100 times less than that of earth's largely nitrogen based atmosphere. Few studies have examined the effects of atmospheric pressure or CO2 concentration on the growth of Anabaena. I will conduct an experiment to determine the minimum CO2 concentration under which anabaena can successfully reproduce. This experiment will use a home-built vacuum chamber that will allow the pressure and CO2 concentration to be gauged for the extent of each two week trial. I hope my findings will aid research towards understanding the suitability of anabaena toward terraforming the Martian atmosphere.
