A moss that grows in the Mojave Desert and Antarctica could be key to greening and developing life on Mars, according to scientists. That’s because the plant thrives in a variety of conditions, from Antarctica to the Mojave Desert in California, and, as researchers recently discovered, can survive on the harsh surface of Mars without any protection. A type of moss called Syntrichia caninervis can withstand conditions similar to those on Mars, including drought, high radiation, and extreme cold, meaning it could be key to greening the Red Planet. In the wild, the moss forms a vast, robust vegetation that often grows in arid lands, so a future civilization on Mars could be accompanied by this very unusual and resilient little plant.
Scientists have discovered which plants can grow on Mars. Image: d.newsweek.com
The desert moss Syntrichia caninervis is a promising candidate for a pioneer plant for colonizing extraterrestrial habitats, and its study lays the foundation for creating biologically sustainable human habitats beyond Earth.
Contents
- 1 Colonizing Mars
- 2 Moss and Radiation
- 2.1 Extreme Conditions
- 3 The Pioneer Plant
Colonization of Mars
According to a new paper recently published in the journal The Innovation, a species of desert moss called Syntrichia caninervis can survive and grow in the harsh conditions of Mars – temperatures as low as -196 degrees Celsius. The tiny plant can also withstand levels of gamma radiation that would kill most other life forms (gamma radiation is dangerous to most living things because it is so energetic that it destroys cells). Syntrichia caninervis is well-adapted to extreme drought and cold, making it ideal for the surface of the Red Planet.
Let us recall that the potential exploration and settlement of Mars by humans is a matter of the distant future. Firstly, there is nothing to breathe there – the rarefied Martian atmosphere consists mainly of carbon dioxide with a small amount of nitrogen, argon and water vapor. Secondly, the average surface temperature of the planet closest to Earth, according to NASA, is -60°C, and in winter closer to the poles it can drop to -125°C. During the summer day at the equator, the air heats up to +20°C, although the nights on Mars are still cold (-73°C).
Conditions on Mars are not suitable for life as we know it. Image: cff2.earth.com
Third, water on Mars exists mostly in the form of ice, and the polar ice caps are made up of frozen carbon dioxide (dry ice) and water. Mars also doesn't have a magnetic field like Earth, meaning that anything on its surface is exposed to high levels of cosmic radiation, which poses a significant risk to human explorers and anything that might grow in Martian soil.
Read more: Why Mars Had a Better Chance of Hosting Life Than Earth
Moss and Radiation
Scientists recently conducted a first-of-its-kind study, the results of which give hope to all future colonizers of Mars. The authors of the work, which can be found in the scientific journal The Innovation, tested the moss Syntrichia caninervis for its ability to withstand conditions in space or on another planet. Since moss grows in the harshest conditions on Earth – from Tibet to Antarctica – it is an ideal candidate for the resettlement of humanity to other celestial bodies.
The researchers subjected Syntrichia caninervis to a series of rigorous tests in the lab, pushing the plant to its limits. To assess the moss's resistance to extreme cold, the Chinese scientists stored it at -80°C in a specialized freezer for three and five years. They also kept it at -196°C in a tank of liquid nitrogen for 15 and 30 days. In each scenario, the plants were able to regenerate after thawing.
The moss Syntrichia caninervis is found in arid regions of Eurasia and North America. Image: cff2.earth.com
So, after defrosting, the researchers found that the moss recovered and grew. Moreover, if the plant was dehydrated beforehand, it recovered faster. They also tested Syntrichia caninervis at various doses of radiation and found that the moss survives and even thrives at levels up to 500 Gy (Gray is a unit of measurement of the absorbed dose of ionizing radiation).
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Recall that 1 Gy is a dose at which 1 joule of ionizing radiation energy is transferred to a mass of 1 kg. The non-systemic unit of absorbed dose is the rad, therefore 1 Gy = 100 rad. For comparison, humans typically die after exposure to about 8 Gy.
Extreme Conditions
The scientists then combined all the Martian environmental factors and exposed the plant to cold temperatures, low atmospheric pressure (Mars has much lower atmospheric pressure than Earth), air that is 95% carbon dioxide (CO2) and high levels of ultraviolet radiation. The results showed that if the moss was pre-dried, it recovered 100% after 30 days, while other plants that received water also recovered, but much more slowly.
Graphic material from the article. This moss may be able to grow in Martian conditions. Image: The Innovation, Li et al., 2024.
Our study shows that the environmental resilience of the moss Syntrichia caninervis exceeds that of some highly stress-tolerant microorganisms and tardigrades. Moreover, not only does this plant not suffer catastrophic cell damage, but it also exhibits incredible natural adaptation,– the authors of the scientific paper, including ecologists Daoyuan Zhang and Yuanming Zhang, and botanist Tingyun Kuang from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, write.
Growing land plants on Mars could help scientists make its arid surface at least a little more habitable. «The unique knowledge gained from our study lays the foundation for the colonization of outer space using naturally selected plants adapted to extreme stress conditions,» the experts note.
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While this is an exciting find, there is still a lot of work to do before we humans can start growing these plant species in test mode on Martian soil. Not only do we have to get to Mars first, which is 225 million kilometers from Earth, but research into plant life in space is still in its early stages. The next step, the researchers say, is to test this moss in real space conditions to see if the results can be replicated on Earth.
A Pioneer Plant
While there is a long way to go to create self-sustaining habitats on other planets, the authors of a new study have demonstrated the enormous potential of the moss Syntrichia caninervis as a pioneering plant suitable for the harsh Martian environment.
Looking to the future, we hope that this promising moss can be transported to Mars or the Moon to further explore the possibilities of colonization and plant growth in space, the authors of the study conclude.
The moss Syntrichia caninervis could be used on Mars to support the ecosystem by producing oxygen, sequestering carbon, and improving soil fertility. Image: scx2.b-cdn.net
Perhaps most importantly, Syntrichia caninervis may help control atmospheric, geological, and ecological processes that are essential for other higher plants and animals, while at the same time helping create new habitats conducive to long-term human settlement.
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This amazingly resilient moss has thus demonstrated its potential as a pioneer plant for cultivation on Mars, the Moon, or other planets. It seems that Matt Damon's character in the movie “The Martian” wasted his time growing potatoes.