Bioengineering is absolutely one of the best tools available to us for terraforming Mars.
Microbes, plants and animals are von Neumann probes which have already proven their ability to shape an entire planet on Earth, and it's not some future technology, we have been using them for millennia and we have learnt how to program them through selective breeding and gene editing.
Today, Pioneer Labs is announcing our first step towards terraforming Mars. 馃殌馃尲
With equipment that fits in just a single rocket launch, we can convert Martian dirt, water, and air into enough building materials to construct a small city on Mars.
To do it, we made the first microbe for Mars. We found the best microbe on Earth and used evolution to teach it how to source all of its nutrients directly from Martian materials.
The first astronauts will be greeted with safe shelter already filled with water, oxygen, and rocket fuel for the return journey.
This is the first step toward using biology to make Mars a friendly place for life. It lets us live off the land and helps us build the next great frontier.
It's the first of five organisms we need to green Mars 猬囷笍