NASA is exploring a rather innovative solution for building future space habitats, which involves growing structures from mushrooms.
The space agency has awarded a $2 million contract to researchers at NASA’s Ames Research Center to further study “microtexture,” a futuristic approach to creating habitable structures using fungi. This idea sounds straight out of science fiction and could revolutionize how we build colonies on the Moon and Mars.
Why mushrooms
NASA is turning to fungi mainly because of the high cost of transporting traditional construction materials into space. Launching heavy building supplies is extremely expensive, and the weight of conventional materials makes them impractical for space missions. Instead, NASA is looking at a much more efficient alternative: fungal spores.
According to architect Chris Maurer, who is collaborating with NASA on this project, sending spores and combining them with resources found on the Moon — such as water and lunar soil (regolith) — could dramatically reduce costs.
In addition to being cost-effective, mushrooms offer several other advantages. NASA’s research has shown that fungal structures could protect space dwellers from radiation, provide insulation against extreme temperatures, and increase, with entire buildings potentially sprouting up in one or two months.
This makes them a promising alternative to traditional building materials, which can be challenging to transport and assemble in space.
How it works
Building a mushroom house on the moon would begin with a special package delivered to the lunar surface. This package would contain basic household necessities and inflate to create an initial structure. A mixture of fungal spores, water, and algae would grow an outer shell, eventually hardening into a sturdy, livable habitat.
Although experiments on Earth have been successful, there are still challenges ahead. Growing structures in space might come with unforeseen complications. Lynn Rothschild, the NASA Ames senior research scientist leading the project, noted several risks.
These include whether the fungal structure is strong enough, provides adequate insulation, or grows well in space conditions. To address these concerns, NASA plans to send a concept model of these microtexture structures into space in 2028 as part of the launch of the commercial space station Starlab.
If successful, future colonies on the Moon and Mars could quite literally “grow” their homes, with mushrooms becoming a crucial part of extraterrestrial architecture. The idea of mushroom houses popping up on the Moon could soon become a reality, transforming space exploration and how we think about life beyond Earth.
