Thermites and their relationship with a fungus and spaceflights

Thermites and their relationship with a fungus and spaceflights

Thermites have a symbiotic relationship with fungus, what mission is to transform woody material into the form, that fits nutrient for those bugs. The idea in this symbiosis is that thermites would bring fungus to the fungus, which will handle that material outside the bodies of thermites. 

This kind of symbiosis is interesting because that would bring many visions in the eyes of the researchers and futurologists. The fungus that can use as a nutrient for long space flights might give protein and another kind of thing on the saucer of astronauts. 

But as you see fungus or mushrooms, what is the common name for that organism, what is not animal or vegetable. The fungus has a very big role in the forest ecosystem because it scatters organic waste. And that process could be suitable for a long term spaceflights when the organic material should be recycled for the plantations.

Even if we are thinking about the food, what astronauts eat are mainly planned to be vegetables, fungus or mushrooms might also be used as a food in the interplanetary spaceflights. When we are thinking about the cleaning of air inside the spacecraft, the alga would be suitable for delivering oxygen in the air. And the reason for that is that green alga is a very good food. 

The bio-cleaning or biological life support system would grow that alga in the closed containers. In some visions, the containers would be like test tubes, which are involving nutrient liquid. And the ultraviolet light would adjust the photosynthesis. 

Idea is that the intelligent system detects the level of carbon dioxide and damp in the air, and then the rest of the systems like UV-lights and temperature will be adjusted. Those biological life support systems that are basing the organism, which is suitable for a nutrient can also put in the spacesuit. In this case, the spacesuit would allow making spacewalks, which takes a year. In the future, this kind of "Closed-cycle" life support system could installed in a spacesuit. 

That thing makes possible to save the astronauts even from far away from Earth if they could eat "green juice" or alga-shake. But that is one vision of tomorrow, what can be someday possible. Biological life support systems have one benefit, it can create oxygen and offer food to astronauts. 

If some things can be used for many purposes, that thing can also save the space inside spacecraft. But also the system must somehow benefit the organic waste, and one of the methods is to use the fungus for scattering and handling that kind of material. And when we are looking for a replacer of meat in the food, the fungus would allow a very good solution in food production, if we think the replacement of the meat. 

https://www.esf.edu/efb/turner/termitePages/termiteFungSym.html