Life, Space, and Future: Astroecology

Esma Topaloğlu^T., Gülnur Uzun^E.

A multidisciplinary approach has become the main feature of scientific research that points to benefit from the diversity of information of complex systems on or outside of Earth, like biodiversity, ecological systems, and galaxies¹. One of the biggest problems in the analysis and interpretation of ecological data is to enlighten the time-space relationship of biosystems². Difficulty in ecosystem studies defined as “Vectors arranged in multi-dimensional plane with heterogenous surface” is frequently faced by the astronomy field and this has led to the formation of a scientific collaboration called Astroecology¹.    

Ecology is derived from Greek words “oikos” (home) and “logos” (information)³, and is a science branch that inspects organism variety, organisms, and their relationship with their abiotic and biotic environment^4,5, whereas astroecology is a science branch that studies the relationship of life and cosmic environment between potential biotas (whole organisms in a specific geographic area) and resources found in space6. For a deep understanding of ecology, forms of living should be identified and the amount of substances should be quantified or estimated. To determine the lifetime of ecologic studies, we should first answer the question “What is life?”7. Even though this question is not properly answered yet, there are different approaches in terms of exergy (present energy of ecosystem components), entropy (metric of abundance and distribution), and information, that explain the cycle and balance of life in ecosystems8-10. Origin of organic life research is based on the RNA (ribonucleic acid) world hypothesis and focuses on the expansion of biological, genetic, and chemical life of living things. Abiotic nucleotide synthesis which came at the beginning of these processes, is a difficult research topic in prebiotic chemistry¹¹. Panspermia theory expresses the possibility that life came to our planet by comets and asteroids^12,13. This theory has pushed scientists to search other planets^14,15 with signs of life, and later, microbial ecology¹⁶, theoretical ecology models¹⁷, and forming ecologic scenarios¹⁸ for the transfer of life between planets. In this review, the protection of biodiversity on Earth and experimental and potential astroecology approaches for extraterrestrial colonization will be discussed.

Space and Ecology Relationship

The environment of space is characterized by various stress factors for living such as intense radiation, microgravity, heat, and pressure effects. Effects of stress factors, alone or in combination, may result in modification of genetics of living and evolutionary differences that would not be possible in Earth’s gravity¹⁹. For example, an astroecology experiment made by Mautner and his colleagues demonstrated that asparagus (Asparagus sp.) cultures treated with nutrients obtained from carbonaceous chondrites (meteorite piece) and Mars meteorites, increased plant growth because of the high phosphate content (Figure 1)⁷.

Figure 1. Plant tissues obtained from Asparagus officinalis plant cultures sprouted in various environments⁷. (a) Growth in Muchison CM2 meteorite (b) Growth in DaG 476 meteorite (c) Growth in water (d) Growth in Hawaii lava Mars simulation.

In addition to that, observation of algae, liken, stromatolite, fossilized algae, and samples like metazoans on Mars or observation of samples like terrestrial fungus in Mars and Venus, supports the hypothesis that the origin of life started in space and spread to Earth^20,21. Nutritional values of exoplanet materials were shown on a synthetic terrestrial analog tholin, towards the end of 20^th century²². In 1997, it was observed that Murchison CM2 meteorite has fertility parameters of terrestrial soil²³. Additionally, it has been reported that Murchison materials can support the life of anaerobic and aerobic thermophile species²⁴. Studies made with extremophiles, which can survive in extreme environments, stand out as another species that would expand our understanding of life on exoplanets²⁵. It is also possible to examine the samples collected in extraterrestrial potential ecosystem studies, especially in space missions^26,27. In a study made by ExoMars rover in 1996, formulated ESA’s (Europe Space Agency) searches and guidelines for future life in the solar system^28,29. It has been thought that life existed in the first half million years after the formation of Mars. The environment of microorganisms was similar to the early Earth. These reasons make Mars the most appropriate planet to search for signs of life in the solar system^30,31. MARSBOx (Microbes in Atmosphere for Radiation, Survival, and Biological Outcome Experiment) is an experiment that started in 2019 to search for terrestrial life on other planets by sending fungi spores of Aspergillus niger, Salinisphaera shabanensis, Staphylococcus capitis subsp. kapitisand Buttiauxella sp. in NASA science balloon to the Earth’s middle stratosphere where conditions are like far planets. MARSBOx model has atmosphere and pressure conditions of Mars, is designed by modifying Europe Space Agents’ (ESA) transport and exposure box (Trex-Box), which was used in EXPOSE-E, EXPOSE-R, and MASE (Mars Analogues for Space Expeditions) for biological exposure research. The results of experiments on specimens (Figure 2)³² that are prepared by changing ¼th of each layer of Trex-Box to make it more compatible with the Martian environment, indicate that bacteria can adapt to the Mars environment in different ways, and fungal spores can be resistant to possible migration to other planets³². A study made with microorganisms that can be beneficial to ecological restoration and space research showed that Escherichia coli in a stimulated Lower Earth Orbit (LEO) environment has survival abilities against DNA damage and we are closer to engineering new bacteria species that can adapt to space environment³³. Studies to observe the survivability of microorganisms in outer space and adaptation to the space environment continue with the guided evolution method^34-36.

Figure 2. Steps for Trex-Box specimen preparation³². Trex-Box is a gas-tight box that allows alteration of the inner atmosphere by being perforated. (A) Quartz discs that contain microbial samples in Trex-Box (B) Sealing the Trex-Box with suprasil glass that allows passage of UV-VIS (C) Using screws to tighten and secure the container (D) Replacing Earth’s atmosphere in the Trex-box with Mars’s gas mixture.

Sustainability and Worldization (Terraforming)

Environmental sustainability is defined as the degree of sustainability of a process or initiative while avoiding the long-term depletion of natural resources^37,38. The rapid change in ecosystems and Earth conditions due to human activities has revealed the importance of ecological sustainability research³⁹. A sustainable development approach to managing potential ecological crises is created to support sustainability on Earth and in space exploration^40,41. Bioregenerative Life Support Systems (BLSS) are designed for the sustainability of life in the space environment in artificial closed ecosystems that contain humans, plants, animals, and microorganisms⁴². The design of the BLSS is based on a combination of ecological principles and technology and currently has a key role in space exploration^43,44. Worldization (Terraforming) is a term that is used to change a hostile planet environment to an Earth-like environment⁴⁵. Planetary ecosynthesis is defined as the alteration of another planet’s environment on the purpose of increasing the survival rate of local biology⁴⁶. Mars is currently the most suitable candidate for terraforming^47,48.

Astroecology and Protection of Species

Astroecology aims to facilitate the monitoring of ecosystem dynamics for the sustainability of species. Conservation science benefits from astroecology to identify endangered species, eliminate problems in their conservation, and monitor their populations on land and sea^49,50. Astroecology is a branch of science that studies ecosystems and interactions with space conditions as an interdisciplinary approach. Even though there are various indicators that the origin of life on Earth came from other planets, definitive evidence on this subject requires combined work of astroecology and engineering disciplines.

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