The goal of this project is to expand the capability and methodologies in experimental extreme biology as a step towards Martian ecopoiesis. The objectives in meeting this goal are to (1) fabricate, assemble, and characterize the Crucible design prototype across a subset of Martian conditions including temperature, pressure, and light intensity and spectra, (2) characterize the survival and growth of an initial set of extremophiles using the Crucible prototype to be assembled at the NASA Ames Research Center, and (3) cultivate a diverse community of scientists and engineers across astrobiology, synthetic biology, and planetary sciences interested in adapting the Crucible for further developments such as flight, ionizing radiation exposure, and microgravity experiments
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