The alternative biological solution for NASA’s expensive propellant-production plan on Mars is getting new light through current research. But in order to make this intriguing idea work properly, some significant hurdles should be overcome first. NASA is planning to visit the red planet by the next decade, but the primary concern of the group now is to sort out the fuel situation.

The Concerning Situation

According to NASA scientists, launching a rocket to Mars for visiting is not a problem at all. Rather getting a vehicle off the surface to make a return trip is most challenging here. A copious amount of liquid nitrogen and methane is needed in this case to produce the required propellant. But these key components of rocket fuel are extremely rare on Mars, leading to the necessity of additional shipping of the fuel gasses.

The Research Findings

New research has recently been published in Nature Communications, which estimated a whopping $8 billion cost to ship the required 30 tons of fuel gasses to Mars. This steep price tag is the result of the elaborate launching plan with four separate launches of the SLS rocket. Also, 470 tons of additional payload is required up to low Earth orbit. Interestingly, the authors of the paper have come up with a uniquely different solution, which can be easily backed by the economic support from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program. They have found a way to directly source the key ingredients on the land of Mars.

The Alternative Solution

According to the new study, the ingredients needed to produce the propellant are simply carbon dioxide, sunlight, and frozen water, all of which are in abundance on the red planet. Two specific types of bacteria and the materials for building a large array of photo-bioreactors would be brought to the planet from Earth. The two required bacteria are Cyanobacteria, which is commonly known as blue-green algae, and a bio-engineered strain of E. coli bacteria. The authors also have outlined a production strategy of the entire biological production, where the Cyanobacteria will produce sugars with the help of sunlight and carbon dioxide, which then will be converted into a viable propellant by the E. coli.

Kanye West is a rapper known for a lot of things, one of which is his music. Sources close to the rapper have recently revealed that the rapper was indeed working on his new album. The album is entitled God’s Country, and it should be released soon.

Kanye West Is Giving Fans New Music

Arthur Jafa is a noble cinematographer and artist. He recently revealed he had been busy working on a video-focused collaboration with Kanye West. He revealed this on an Instagram Live chat that he was part of with Michèle Lamy.

During the conversation, Jafa mentioned that the project he’s working on is from Kanye’s new record. He also took the time to note that the album wasn’t connected with Kanye’s Sunday Service.

Jafa also stated the album’s name and that it would be his first single from it. Worried that he might be spilling the beans, Jafa stated that he wasn’t sure if he should be announcing it, and he didn’t know when the album would be released. However, he did mention that the single might come out sometime next week, but it wasn’t definite.

Kanye’s Previous Albums and Music

Kanye has made history with a few of his albums in the past. Jafa has worked with Kanye before and used his track “Ultralight Beam” from 2016 in his film – Love Is The Message, The Message Is Death.

The College Dropout was Kanye West’s very first album, and it was released in 2004. It was number two on the US Billboard 200 list. It was also certified double-platinum by the RIAA – Recording Industry Association of America.

That was only the beginning of Kanye’s music. He later released eight more albums, including his most recent, Jesus Is King, which was certified gold by RIAA.