{"id":15274,"date":"2021-10-29T10:17:17","date_gmt":"2021-10-29T09:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/?p=15274"},"modified":"2021-10-29T10:17:17","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T09:17:17","slug":"biotechnology-experts-design-innovative-rocket-fuel-on-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovationnewsnetwork.com\/biotechnology-experts-design-innovative-rocket-fuel-on-mars\/15274\/","title":{"rendered":"Biotechnology experts design innovative rocket fuel on Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"
The groundbreaking rocket fuel is developed in a novel bioproduction process that utilises three resources the Martian planet has in abundance \u2013 carbon dioxide, sunlight, and frozen water, and would also involve transporting two microbes to Mars. The first microbe would be cyanobacteria (algae), which would take CO2 <\/sub>from the atmosphere and use sunlight to make sugars, which then will be converted using specially engineered E. coli to create the advanced rocket fuel.<\/p>\n The innovative rocket fuel \u2013 called 2,3-butanediol \u2013 is currently in exitance on Earth and is traditionally employed to create polymers for rubber production. The study\u2019s findings are published in the journal Nature communications<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n Currently, rockets departing for Mars are planned to be fuelled by methane and liquid oxygen (LOX); however, this causes some astronomical issues. Firstly, neither exist on the Martian planet, meaning they would need to be transported all the way from Earth to power a return spacecraft into orbit. In addition to being inefficient, this method is also costly, as carrying the 30 tonnes of methane and LOX required is estimated to cost around $8bn. NASA has proposed a technique to convert carbon dioxide on Mars into LOX, although methane still needs to be brought from Earth.<\/p>\nIntergalactic travel restrictions<\/h3>\n