Microorganisms are central to the
exploration and settlement of space. Their study can inform
the search for life beyond Earth and they can be used to
perform many bioindustrial processes to support a human
presence in space. In this seminar, I'll illustrate these uses
by describing recent work in our lab including experiments on
board the International Space Station to demonstrate biomining
in space using microorganisms. Finally, I'll take a detour and
describe a public engagement project we launched in 2016, Life
Beyond, which involves prisoners in Scottish prisons in
designing stations for the Moon and Mars.
About the Speaker:
Charles Cockell is Professor of
Astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh and Co-Director of
the UK Centre for Astrobiology, which he established in 2011.
His academic interests encompass life in extreme environments,
the habitability of extraterrestrial environments and the
exploration and settlement of space. He has previously worked
at NASA Ames Research Centre (NRC Postdoctoral Fellowship) and
the British Antarctic Survey. His work has taken him to both
poles and many other extreme environments. He has published
over 300 scientific papers and numerous books, including a
series on the conditions for liberty beyond Earth. He leads
the Life Beyond program, which engages prison inmates in the
design of human settlements in space. He is Chair of the Earth
and Space Foundation, a non-profit organisation he established
in 1994 which funds expeditions that advance the unity between
space exploration and environmentalism.