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Abstract

The increasing desire to establish an extra-terrestrial human base, and the aim to live and work in deep space either in Lunar orbit or on the way to Mars requires space radiation shielding in order to protect humans and sensitive equipment against solar radiation and Galactic Cosmic Rays. Mycelium (fungi) is widespread on Earth and has existed for almost a billion years, even when the radiation level on our planet was much higher than nowadays and fungi thrived under those conditions. Moreover, over that, almost a billion years fungi developed the most sophisticated and reliable defence systems against viruses, bacteria, radiation, extreme temperature and even physical damage. Research and experiments on how fungi can withstand radiation have been carried out for a decade. FORT shield intends to utilise those research results and apply them to create a shielding for rigid structures that can ensure safe human exploration outside of the protection of Earth's magnetic field. FORT shield could also be used on satellites to be protected by radiation and to generate additional power for end-of-life manoeuvres. Keywords: fungi, melanin, space radiation, deep space, spacecraft, satellites, architectural radiation shielding, space exploration, human spaceflight

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