Peruvian Team KillaLab has received a grant in the amount of US$10,000 from the National Geographic Society Committee for Research and Exploration.
The grant was awarded in support of their proposed project "Cyanobacteria and their strategies in high Andean lagoons of Peru as a basis for adaptation to climate change ecosystem."
The sum of money will be invested in a research on sustainable human life in space.
The project's goal is to assess the survival of cyanobacteria —found in rocks— in the Moon,
Team KillaLab member, Sofia Rodriguez, told Andina news agency.
Cyanobacteria will be placed in a sort of aerospace minilab and will be launched to the moon in a mission next year, according to plan.
"We want to study the performance of cyanobacteria under high levels of radiation in space and the moon. Plus, we want to use this as a biological model for examining climate change effects. If they survive, their contribution to sustainable human life on the moon will be important," Rodriguez explained.
They may be used as biomaterials for future space suits, food preparation, oxygen, biopharmaceuticals, and biofuel, she said.
Plus, cyanobacterial compounds could be used to manufacture improved UV radiation protectors that may be useful on earth.
National Geographic Society
All proposed projects should be bold, innovative, and transformative. Also, they must be novel, exploratory and align to National Geographic Society's mission, as well as focus areas.
(END) MFA/RRC/RMB/MVB
Published: 8/16/2018