---
title: "NASA Wants to Grow Trippy Houses Made Out of Mushrooms on the Moon"
description: "NASA is planning on growing habitable structures out of fungus — also called mycotecture — for space colonies on the Moon and then Mars."
date: "2024-10-06"
modified: "2024-10-06"
authors:
  - name: "Sharon Adarlo"
    job_title: "Correspondent"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/sadarlo.md"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-mushroom-house-moon"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Moon"
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "moon"
  - "NASA"
  - "space colony"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA Wants to Grow Trippy Houses Made Out of Mushrooms on the Moon

![NASA is planning on growing habitable structures out of fungus — also called mycotecture — for space colonies on the Moon and then Mars.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/nasa-mushroom-house-moon.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: redhouse labs / NASA\</em\>*

## Home Sweet Fungus

NASA is seriously contemplating growing future habitable structures out of mushrooms for space colonies on the lunar surface and eventually Mars, [according to *Al Jazeera*](<https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/features/2024/9/29/growing-mushroom-houses-on-the-moon-nasas-fungus-filled-plan>). The space agency recently [awarded a $2 million contract](<https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-advances-research-to-grow-habitats-in-space-from-fungi/>) to a research group at NASA's Ames Research Center for the further study and development of "mycotecture."

The reason why NASA is investigating fungi is because it's extremely expensive to launch traditional construction materials into space.

Sending up fungal spores and mixing them with "local" lunar material such as water and regolith to make bricks would be vastly cheaper, according to Cleveland, Ohio architect Chris Maurer who spoke to *Al Jazeera* about his partnership with NASA.

Promising NASA research has also shown that these mushroom building blocks can deflect most space radiation, provide insulation from extreme temperatures, and can be grown very quickly in one to two months — a futuristic and highly efficient alternative to more conventional materials.

## Room to Grow

Growing a mushroom house on the Moon would start with a special package landing on the alien surface, containing a sink and other household essentials, according to *Al Jazeera.* The interior of the package would then inflate while a mixture of fungal spores, water and algae grow an exterior shell that eventually hardens, establishing a new habitable structure.

While early experiments on Earth have proven successful, there could still be unforeseen complications in space.

The research mushroom group, led by NASA Ames senior research scientist Lynn Rothschild, is planning to send a concept model of mycotecture structures into space as part of the planned 2028 launch of a commercial space station called [Starlab](<https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-companies-to-develop-commercial-destinations-in-space/>).

"In a general sense, there are technological risks," Rothschild told *Al Jazeera. "*Will the structure be strong enough? Will it really provide the insulation that we think? What will the material properties be? Will it really grow well?"

If all goes well, future colonies on the Moon and Mars will be popping up like mushrooms after a warm rainy day.

**More on Moon colonization:** [*Experts Warn Against Strip Mining the Moon*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/experts-against-moon-mining.md>)

## More

- [NASA Wants to Grow a Moon Base Out of Mushrooms](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-grow-moon-base-mushrooms.md>)
- [China Furious After NASA Accuses It of Stealing the Moon](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-furious-nasa-moon.md>)
- [NASA Scientists Want to Obtain “Fragments” From Deep Inside Moon](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-fragments-deep-inside-moon.md>)
- [Scientists Surprised to Find Mushroom Growing Out of Frog](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-find-mushroom-frog.md>)
- [NASA’s Considering Giant Inflatable Tents for Moon Habitats](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-giant-inflatable-tents-moon-habitats.md>)
- [NASA’s Collaborating With Caterpillar on Moon Mining Machines](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-caterpillar-moon-mining-machines.md>)
- [NASA Experiment: Radishes Could Probably Grow in Lunar Soil](<https://futurism.com/nasa-experiment-radishes-lunar-soil.md>)
- [NASA Wants a Moon Camera to Film Landing Spacecraft From the Lunar Surface](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-moon-camera-film-exocam-landing-spacecraft-lunar-surface.md>)