BACTERIAL GROWTH INDUCED BIOCEMENTATION TECHNOLOGY, 'SPACE BRICK' - A PROPOSAL FOR EXPERIMENT AT MICROGRAVITY AND PLANETARY ENVIRONMENTS

We present results of our investigation of microbial induced calcite precipitation for manufacturing space bricks and a proposal for study of this activity in low-earth orbit (LEO). Sporosarcina pasteurii, a urease producing bacterial strain was used to consolidate lunar simulant soil (LSS) in the form of a brick with non-trivial strength properties. Potential of a naturally occurring polymer namely, guar gum, as an additive was investigated for enhancement in compressive strength of bio-consolidated samples. Experimental results of bio-brick exhibited an approximate 10-fold increase in compressive strength with guar gum supplementation in soil. We present results of microstructural analysis of the space bricks and also propose a payload design for related experiments in LEO.