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Bioarchitectures CosmoEcology

Luis Guzmán

Bioarchitectures CosmoEcology

2020

Diatoms

1 x 1.2 cm

status:

An artwork based on the cultivation of marine diatoms aims to create a symbiotic technology for multi-species space colonisation.

MIT Space Exploration Initiative

Bioarchitectures CosmoEcology (2020) is an Art + Science project by Luis Guzmán that was part of the Sojourner2020 of the MIT Space Exploration Initiative, curated by Xin Liu, a microgravity payload that hosted a total of nine art projects aboard the International Space Station ISS between March and April 2020. The project aims to create a symbiotic technology for multispecies space colonization based in the cultivation of marine diatoms.

Diatoms are enigmatic, nor plant or animal, they share biochemical features of both. They are covered with complex silica structure and are responsible for creating 25-30 % of the oxygen present in the atmosphere of the Earth.


In the orbital laboratory, a sample of Marine Diatoms was subjected to Martian microgravity and zero-gravity conditions inside the Sojourner2020 microgravity payload. The diatomaceous strain Phaeodactylum Tricornutum, used in the experiment, can change between three possible morphotypes: oval, Fusiform, and triradiate. The project aimed to imagine a diatom based technology for oxygen production in space, but also to imagine what are the implications of an interplanetary ecology. Sojourner 2020 (a 1.5U size unit, 100mm x 100mm x 152.4mm ) will be launched into low Earth orbit for about 30 days. It features a three-layer telescoping structure which creates three different “gravities”: zero gravity, lunar gravity, and Martian gravity. Each layer of the structure rotates independently. The top layer remains still in weightlessness, while the middle and bottom layers spin at different speeds to produce centripetal accelerations that mimic lunar gravity and Martian gravity, respectively. Each layer carries 6 pockets that can hold projects. Source: https://www.guzmanluis.com/

Technical information

artist

Luis Guzmán

title

Bioarchitectures CosmoEcology

date

2020

medium

Diatoms

dimensions

1 x 1.2 cm

genre

Sculpture

IAAA art style

this work is part of the following collection

Sojourner 2020

artwork COSPAR id

Launch

Space

Return

launch date

7 Mar 2020

launch  mission

SpaceX CRS-20 (Dragon), Flacon 9

launch  provider

SpaceX

International Space Station

return date

6 April 2020

return vehicle

Dragon CRS-20

return location

Pacific Ocean

launch location

Cape Canaveral, FL, USA

host vehicle

International Space Station

return vehicle COSPAR id

2020-016A

launching state

location

USA

LEO, International Space Station (ISS)

host vehicle COSPAR id

1998-067A

status

Returned

launch vehicle COSPAR id

2020-016A

partners

MIT Space Exploration Initiative

Artist

Luis Guzmán

Artist

Chile

Collection

Sojourner 2020

2020

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