spore: profile
id: mycelium-composite
spore_version: 0.2
family: mycelium
name: Mycelium-bound composite
abbreviation: MBC
role: building insulation and habitat panel material
category: living
type: bio-grown-building-materials
summary: |
  A mycelium composite is agricultural fibre (straw, hemp, flax, sugarcane bagasse and similar) bound into a solid block by fungal hyphae, then heat-killed so the material is inert. Lab papers report densities of about 60 to 320 kg/m3 and thermal conductivities of about 0.04 to 0.085 W/m K, which is insulation-grade. Compressive strengths range from about 1 kPa to 0.44 MPa across studies, and flexural strength reported so far is 0.85 MPa. NASA Ames has proposed growing habitat structures on the Moon and Mars from this material, but every value here comes from ground lab samples. The field is young and the data are sparse.
best_for: Lightweight, low-conductivity interior panels and insulation grown from local waste, where low load and low mass matter more than strength
weakest_at: 'Strength and moisture resistance: compressive strength is in the kPa to sub-MPa range, and water uptake of 24 to 57 percent is reported after soaking'
identity:
  formula: Fungal mycelium (hyphal network of a basidiomycete such as Trametes versicolor, Pleurotus ostreatus or Ganoderma lucidum) grown through an agricultural-waste substrate such as hemp, flax, straw, sugarcane bagasse or wheat grain
  source: elsacker2019
  where: Introduction and Table 1 (substrates and fungal species); Waskar 2026 abstract (P. ostreatus on bagasse); Jones 2018 Methods (T. versicolor on wheat grain)
tags:
  environments:
    - lunar-day
    - mars-surface
  stresses: []
  applications:
    - thermal-control
    - habitats-and-suits
properties:
  - benchmark: density
    label: Dry density, mycelium-hemp composite (chopped hemp)
    value: 99
    unit: kg/m3
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: chopped hemp
      fungus: Trametes versicolor
      grade: lab sample; growth time not stated in extracted text
    method: Dry density of grown composite, reported in Table 3
    status: ground
    source: elsacker2019
    where: Table 3 (composite densities)
  - benchmark: density
    label: Dry density, mycelium-flax composite (chopped flax)
    value: 135
    unit: kg/m3
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: chopped flax
      fungus: Trametes versicolor
      grade: lab sample
    method: Dry density of grown composite, reported in Table 3
    status: ground
    source: elsacker2019
    where: Table 3 (composite densities)
  - benchmark: density
    label: Dry density, mycelium-straw composite (chopped straw)
    value: 94
    unit: kg/m3
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: chopped wheat straw
      fungus: Trametes versicolor
      grade: lab sample
    method: Dry density of grown composite, reported in Table 3
    status: ground
    source: elsacker2019
    where: Table 3 (composite densities)
  - benchmark: density
    label: Density, Ganoderma lucidum formulation F2 (30% Arboloco pith, 70% kikuyu grass)
    value: 60.4
    unit: kg/m3
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: Arboloco pith and kikuyu grass fibre
      fungus: Ganoderma lucidum
      formulation: F2
      uncertainty: plus or minus 4.5 kg/m3
    method: Reported in the abstract of a 2025 open-access paper
    status: ground
    source: jimenez2025
    where: Abstract
  - benchmark: density
    label: Density of mycelium blocks from sugarcane bagasse and wheat bran
    value: 0.2
    value_high: 0.32
    bound: range
    unit: g/cm3
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: sugarcane bagasse fibres (1 to 5 mm) with 5 to 10 wt% wheat bran
      fungus: Pleurotus ostreatus
    method: Range stated in the abstract of a 2026 journal article
    status: ground
    source: waskar2026
    where: Abstract
  - benchmark: density
    label: Dry density of aged mycelium composite (control, hemp hurds)
    value: 0.14
    unit: g/cm3
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: hemp hurds (per supplier)
      fungus: undisclosed strain
      condition: control before simulated weathering
    method: Table 5, density by condition
    status: ground
    source: schultz2024
    where: Table 5 (control row)
  - benchmark: compressive_strength
    label: Maximum compressive strength, P. ostreatus on bagasse with wheat bran
    value: 0.25
    unit: MPa
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: sugarcane bagasse with 5 to 10 wt% wheat bran
      fungus: Pleurotus ostreatus
      test: not stated in abstract
    method: Maximum value reported in the abstract of a 2026 journal article
    status: ground
    source: waskar2026
    where: Abstract
  - benchmark: compressive_strength
    label: Compressive strength at 50 percent deformation, Ganoderma F2
    value: 0.1686
    unit: MPa
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: Arboloco pith and kikuyu grass fibre (F2)
      fungus: Ganoderma lucidum
      deformation: 50%
    method: Reported in the abstract of a 2025 open-access paper
    status: ground
    source: jimenez2025
    where: Abstract
  - benchmark: compressive_strength
    label: Mean compressive strength across 35 studies (pooled)
    value: 0.44
    unit: MPa
    scope: material
    conditions:
      basis: pooled mean from a systematic review and meta-analysis
      fungi_and_substrates: mixed
    method: Pooled mean stated in the record abstract
    status: ground
    note: Second-hand pooled figure from a 2026 journal article in a journal we could not verify as peer-reviewed; treat as indicative only.
    source: afridi2026
    where: Abstract
  - benchmark: compressive_strength
    label: Compressive strength range across mycelium composites (thesis)
    value: 0.001
    value_high: 1.1
    bound: range
    unit: MPa
    scope: material
    conditions:
      basis: range stated in a 2020 honours thesis abstract (printed as 1kPa to 1.1MPa)
      substrates: walnut shells, rice hulls, commercial Ecovative mix
    method: Range stated in the thesis abstract
    status: ground
    note: Undergraduate thesis abstract; the full thesis was not read, so the specimen types behind the range are unknown.
    source: yang2020
    where: Abstract
  - benchmark: flexural_strength
    label: Flexural strength, mycelium block (P. ostreatus on bagasse)
    value: 0.85
    unit: MPa
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: sugarcane bagasse fibres with wheat bran
      fungus: Pleurotus ostreatus
    method: Reported in the abstract of a 2026 journal article
    status: ground
    source: waskar2026
    where: Abstract
  - benchmark: ultimate_tensile_strength
    label: Tensile strength, mycelium block (P. ostreatus on bagasse)
    value: 0.42
    unit: MPa
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: sugarcane bagasse fibres with wheat bran
      fungus: Pleurotus ostreatus
    method: Reported in the abstract of a 2026 journal article
    status: ground
    source: waskar2026
    where: Abstract
  - benchmark: elastic_modulus
    label: Compressive Young's modulus, loose hemp (uncompressed)
    value: 0.51
    unit: MPa
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: loose hemp
      fungus: Trametes versicolor
      test: compression
    method: Stated in the text of the Results section (paper calls it compressive stiffness)
    status: ground
    source: elsacker2019
    where: Results, Mechanical behaviour (text)
  - benchmark: elastic_modulus
    label: Compressive Young's modulus, chopped flax
    value: 1.18
    unit: MPa
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: chopped flax
      fungus: Trametes versicolor
      test: compression
    method: Stated in the text of the Results section
    status: ground
    source: elsacker2019
    where: Results, Mechanical behaviour (text)
  - benchmark: thermal_conductivity
    label: Thermal conductivity, mycelium-hemp composite (chopped)
    value: 0.0404
    unit: W/(m K)
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: chopped hemp
      fungus: Trametes versicolor
      uncertainty: plus or minus 0.001
    method: Measured value in Table 3
    status: ground
    source: elsacker2019
    where: Table 3
  - benchmark: thermal_conductivity
    label: Thermal conductivity, mycelium-flax composite (chopped)
    value: 0.0578
    unit: W/(m K)
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: chopped flax
      fungus: Trametes versicolor
      uncertainty: plus or minus 0.002
    method: Measured value in Table 3
    status: ground
    source: elsacker2019
    where: Table 3
  - benchmark: thermal_conductivity
    label: Thermal conductivity, mycelium-straw composite (chopped)
    value: 0.0419
    unit: W/(m K)
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: chopped wheat straw
      fungus: Trametes versicolor
      uncertainty: plus or minus 0.0002
    method: Measured value in Table 3
    status: ground
    source: elsacker2019
    where: Table 3
  - benchmark: thermal_conductivity
    label: Thermal conductivity, Ganoderma F1 and F2 average
    value: 0.047
    unit: W/(m K)
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: Arboloco pith and kikuyu grass fibre
      fungus: Ganoderma lucidum
      uncertainty: plus or minus 0.002
    method: Average reported in the abstract of a 2025 open-access paper
    status: ground
    source: jimenez2025
    where: Abstract
  - benchmark: thermal_conductivity
    label: Thermal conductivity, P. ostreatus on bagasse with wheat bran
    value: 0.078
    value_high: 0.085
    bound: range
    unit: W/(m K)
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: sugarcane bagasse with wheat bran
      fungus: Pleurotus ostreatus
    method: Range stated in the abstract of a 2026 journal article
    status: ground
    source: waskar2026
    where: Abstract
  - benchmark: thermal_conductivity
    label: Thermal conductivity, pooled mean across 35 studies
    value: 0.042
    unit: W/(m K)
    scope: material
    conditions:
      basis: pooled from a systematic review and meta-analysis
    method: Pooled value stated in the record abstract
    status: ground
    note: Second-hand pooled figure; see the compressive strength entry for the caveat about this source.
    source: afridi2026
    where: Abstract
  - benchmark: specific_heat
    label: Specific heat capacity, Ganoderma F1 and F2 average
    value: 1714
    unit: J/(kg K)
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: Arboloco pith and kikuyu grass fibre
      fungus: Ganoderma lucidum
      uncertainty: plus or minus 105
    method: Average reported in the abstract of a 2025 open-access paper
    status: ground
    source: jimenez2025
    where: Abstract
  - benchmark: moisture_absorption
    label: Water absorbed after 24 h immersion, chopped hemp composite
    value: 24.45
    unit: '%'
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: chopped hemp
      fungus: Trametes versicolor
      test: immersion for 24 h
      sorptivity: 0.0073 mm/s^1/2
    method: Table 4 (chopped samples only)
    status: ground
    source: elsacker2019
    where: Table 4
  - benchmark: moisture_absorption
    label: Water absorbed after 24 h immersion, chopped flax composite
    value: 30.28
    unit: '%'
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: chopped flax
      fungus: Trametes versicolor
      test: immersion for 24 h
      sorptivity: 0.0113 mm/s^1/2
    method: Table 4 (chopped samples only)
    status: ground
    source: elsacker2019
    where: Table 4
  - benchmark: moisture_absorption
    label: Water absorbed after 24 h immersion, chopped straw composite
    value: 26.78
    unit: '%'
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: chopped wheat straw
      fungus: Trametes versicolor
      test: immersion for 24 h
      sorptivity: 0.0147 mm/s^1/2
    method: Table 4 (chopped samples only)
    status: ground
    source: elsacker2019
    where: Table 4
  - benchmark: moisture_absorption
    label: Water absorption, Ganoderma F2
    value: 56.6
    unit: '%'
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: Arboloco pith and kikuyu grass fibre (F2)
      fungus: Ganoderma lucidum
      uncertainty: plus or minus 18.4
    method: Reported in the abstract of a 2025 open-access paper
    status: ground
    source: jimenez2025
    where: Abstract
  - benchmark: shrinkage
    label: Shrinkage during drying (maximum across formulations)
    value: 53.6
    unit: '%'
    scope: material
    conditions:
      substrate: Arboloco pith and kikuyu grass fibre
      fungus: Ganoderma lucidum
      basis: up to, across formulations
    method: Reported in the abstract of a 2025 open-access paper
    status: ground
    source: jimenez2025
    where: Abstract
  - benchmark: peak_heat_release_rate
    label: Peak heat release rate, mycelium-wheat grain composite, day 0
    value: 200
    unit: kW/m2
    scope: material
    conditions:
      test: cone calorimetry (ISO 5660), 50 kW/m2 heat flux
      substrate: wheat grains
      fungus: Trametes versicolor
      incubation: 0 days
    method: Value in text of the Cone Calorimetry section
    status: ground
    source: jones2018
    where: Cone calorimetry section (text)
  - benchmark: peak_heat_release_rate
    label: Peak heat release rate, mycelium-wheat grain composite, 6 to 18 days
    value: 180
    unit: kW/m2
    scope: material
    conditions:
      test: cone calorimetry (ISO 5660), 50 kW/m2 heat flux
      substrate: wheat grains
      fungus: Trametes versicolor
      incubation: 6, 12 and 18 days
    method: Value in text of the Cone Calorimetry section
    status: ground
    source: jones2018
    where: Cone calorimetry section (text)
  - benchmark: char_yield
    label: Char yield, mycelium-wheat grain composite (PCFC)
    value: 23
    unit: wt%
    scope: material
    conditions:
      test: pyrolysis combustion flow calorimetry (ASTM D7309)
      substrate: wheat grains
      fungus: Trametes versicolor
      uncertainty: plus or minus 1
    method: Table 2
    status: ground
    source: jones2018
    where: Table 2; Results (TGA gives 23 plus or minus 0.6 wt% at 600 degC)
risks:
  hazards:
    - text: Jones et al. report that mycelium is less prone to ignition and flaming than PMMA or PLA. Peak heat release rate in pyrolysis combustion flow calorimetry was 67 W/g, against 446 W/g for PMMA and 375 W/g for PLA, and char yield was 23 wt%. The time to ignition is not given as a number.
      ghs: []
      source: jones2018
      where: Results, pyrolysis combustion flow calorimetry (text and Table 2)
  failure_risks:
    - mode: Fuel load in a fire
      trigger: Fire exposure of mycelium composite
      consequence: The authors state that large quantities of organic matter can act as a fuel source and may escalate fire risk, but say these effects have not been quantified. Char formation reduced peak heat release in the lab test.
      severity: moderate
      source: jones2018
      where: Discussion (fuel-load statement)
    - mode: Moisture and swelling
      trigger: Hot and humid exposure over a simulated weathering cycle
      consequence: Humid conditions gave the largest moisture uptake and the largest hardness drop in the white fibres (hardness fell from 9.7 to 7.2 in hot-humid and to 4.8 in cold-humid, Shore D).
      severity: moderate
      source: schultz2024
      where: Table 5; Results (weathering)
  side_effects: []
  handling: []
  mitigations:
    - text: Jones et al. dried the grown material at 50 degC for 48 h after incubation. Heat-killing and its effect on growth were not separately verified in the sources read.
      source: jones2018
      where: Methods (incubation and drying)
story:
  recipe:
    line: A fungal mycelium grows through a moist agricultural substrate in a mould, is dried or baked, and forms a solid block. Substrate and fungus can be varied; process details below come from the cited papers.
    parts:
      - name: Agricultural fibre substrate
        share: bulk of the material
        role: 'Provides the cellulose and lignin feedstock the hyphae grow through. Examples in the sources: hemp, flax, wheat straw, sugarcane bagasse, Arboloco pith with kikuyu grass, wheat grain, walnut shells, rice hulls.'
        share_note: atoms not applicable
      - name: Fungus (basidiomycete)
        share: small, as inoculum
        role: 'Hyphae bind the substrate particles into a network. Species used in these sources: Trametes versicolor (Elsacker 2019, Jones 2018), Pleurotus ostreatus (Waskar 2026, NASA Phase II), Ganoderma lucidum (Jimenez-Obando 2025, NASA Phase II).'
        share_note: atoms not applicable
      - name: Water and nutrients
        share: moisture for growth
        role: The Jones et al. recipe adds 48 h soaking of wheat grain, autoclaving, then 25 wt% inoculum. The NASA Phase II work uses spawn with sand or regolith and a water and nutrient mix.
        share_note: atoms not applicable
      - name: Heat and drying step
        share: process step
        role: Jones et al. dry the grown material at 50 degC for 48 h. In NASA Phase II, some specimens were compressed and baked at a higher temperature. The purpose is to stop growth and stabilise the material.
        share_note: atoms not applicable
  risk_groups:
    - title: For people
      level: 0
      verdict: Not assessed from a primary safety source
      lead: The hazard profile for people is not established in the sources read. No safety data sheet, spore or allergen study was checked in this run.
      points:
        - label: Spores and dust
          line: Fungal spores and dust from grown or cut material have not been assessed here. Treat as unknown until a source is read.
        - label: In a fire
          line: Mycelium composites burn and can add fuel to a fire. Char formation lowered peak heat release in one lab test, but the authors say fuel-load effects are not quantified.
    - title: Handling and storage
      points:
        - label: Moisture
          line: Humid conditions gave the largest moisture uptake and hardness loss in the weathering study. Keep the material dry in service.
  why: Mycelium composites are grown rather than manufactured. Hyphae from a fungus bind a farm-waste substrate into a light block, which is then dried or baked. The appeal for space is that the raw material can be local, and the process needs water, warmth and time rather than energy-heavy manufacture. NASA Ames has proposed this route for habitats on the Moon and Mars. The material is still at the laboratory stage.
  uses:
    - where: Insulation panels
      line: Lab measurements put the thermal conductivity of several grown composites between about 0.04 and 0.085 W/m K, which is in the range of insulation materials. Jimenez-Obando et al. describe their Ganoderma material as an insulating material.
    - where: Habitat concepts for the Moon and Mars
      line: NASA Ames (Rothschild and team) proposed growing habitat structures in place from fungal composites on the Moon and Mars. The Phase II report describes a prototype that fills a porous scaffold with mycelia and tests it in a planetary simulator. The work is a concept study, not a flight demonstration.
    - where: Emergency housing and furniture on Earth
      line: The NASA Phase II report says the approach could also be used for terrestrial emergency housing and furniture. This is a suggestion in the report, not a tested product.
  can_do:
    - label: Insulation
      benchmark: thermal_conductivity
      line: Grown composites measured 0.0404 to 0.0578 W/m K in one controlled study of hemp, flax and straw, with a Ganoderma formulation at 0.047 W/m K. These are lab samples at small scale.
    - label: Compression
      benchmark: compressive_strength
      line: Compressive strengths in the sources run from about 1 kPa to 0.44 MPa. Compacting the material raised strength in the NASA tests, and a 30-day growth period gave the highest ultimate compressive strength.
    - label: Low density
      benchmark: density
      line: Densities of 60 to 320 kg/m3 were measured. That is light enough to be handled by hand at block scale.
  compare: Mycelium composites sit at the light, insulating and low-strength end of the building materials. Their conductivity is in the same range as many insulation products, but their compressive strength is far below structural materials, and their water uptake is high in the lab. Few direct comparisons with fibreglass or foams exist in the sources read, so the table compares only the properties the sources report consistently.
  compare_rows:
    - scope: material
      label: Thermal conductivity
      benchmark: thermal_conductivity
    - scope: material
      label: Compressive strength
      benchmark: compressive_strength
    - scope: material
      label: Water absorbed after 24 h
      benchmark: moisture_absorption
  handling:
    - Keep the material dry in service. Moisture is the main recorded weakness.
    - No handling or dust guidance from a safety data sheet was read, so treat spore exposure as unknown.
    - Mycelium material can burn and add fuel to a fire, though char slows heat release.
  good_for:
    - Insulation and interior panels. Measured thermal conductivity of 0.0404 to 0.0578 W/m K for several grown composites.
    - Using farm waste as the feedstock. The NASA Phase II report and the sources describe this as the main attraction.
  watch_out:
    - Low strength. Compressive strengths run from about 1 kPa to 0.44 MPa in the sources.
    - Water uptake. The lab recorded 24 to 30 percent after 24 hours of soaking, and 56.6 percent for one Ganoderma formulation.
    - Shrinkage. One formulation shrank by up to 53.6 percent during drying.
    - Data are sparse and from lab samples, with different fungi, substrates and test methods.
  verdict: Promising for low-load insulation and as a long-term habitat concept, but the evidence is early, mostly small lab samples, and the moisture and strength gaps are real.
supply:
  - subject: Agricultural by-product fibres (flax, hemp, wheat straw, flax waste, pine softwood shavings)
    producers:
      - name: Jopack bvba
        country: Belgium
        supplied: flax and wheat straw fibres
      - name: Aniserco S.A.
        country: Belgium
        supplied: hemp fibres and pine softwood shavings
    volumes: No volume or price figures were given in the sources read.
    source: elsacker2019
    where: Materials and methods, Natural fibres (supplier names); Table 1
  - subject: Fungal inoculum (Trametes versicolor, Ganoderma lucidum, Pleurotus ostreatus)
    producers:
      - name: Commercial mushroom-spawn supplier named in the Jones 2018 Methods
        country: not stated
        supplied: T. versicolor inoculum
    volumes: Not stated.
    source: jones2018
    where: Methods, Mycelium Composite Preparation (supplier name truncated in the text read)
  - subject: Mycelium composite materials (commercial)
    producers:
      - name: Ecovative
        country: United States
        supplied: Its first materials were mycelium composites that bind agricultural byproducts together; the company now grows mycelium sheets for food and materials
    volumes: Production figures on the company homepage were still loading when read; no volume is recorded.
    source: ecovative-web
    where: Homepage, paragraphs on first materials and AirMycelium (read 2026-10-19)
corrosion:
  - environment: Hot and humid conditions, 7 days at 50 degC in a humidity chamber (hot-humid)
    headline: Humid heat changed the surface and cut the hardness of the fibre layer.
    effect: The mycelium layer became darker and thinner with an uneven coating, and SEM showed cracking of the cellulose substrate. Shore D hardness fell from 9.7 (control) to 7.2 under hot-humid conditions.
    rating: moderate
    conditions:
      exposure: 7 days at 50 degC with a salt-bath humidity source
      material: commercially available mycelium biocomposite on a hemp substrate
      test: Shore D hardness and SEM after exposure
    source: schultz2024
    where: Table 5 (control and hot-humid rows); Results, appearance and SEM section
  - environment: Cold and humid conditions, 7 days at -19 degC sealed in plastic and foil (cold-humid)
    headline: Cold, humid exposure gave the largest moisture uptake and the largest hardness loss.
    effect: The authors report significant moisture absorption with low temperature and humidity, and hardness nearly halved, to 4.8 Shore D. Impact strength of the whole block was unchanged. Cold-humid was the only condition without SEM cracking of the cellulose.
    rating: moderate
    conditions:
      exposure: 7 days at -19 degC, sealed in plastic wrap and foil
      material: commercially available mycelium biocomposite on a hemp substrate
    source: schultz2024
    where: Abstract; Table 5 (cold-humid row); SEM section (Figure 10)
  - environment: Cold dry, 7 days at -19 degC (cold-dry) and hot dry, 7 days at 50 degC (hot-dry)
    headline: Heat degraded the substrate; thermal stability fell under hot-dry exposure.
    effect: All conditions except cold-humid showed cracking or other damage to the cellulose substrate. Under hot-dry exposure the onset of thermal degradation of the brown substrate fell by nearly 20 degC.
    rating: low
    conditions:
      exposure: 7 days at -19 degC or 50 degC, dry
      material: commercially available mycelium biocomposite on a hemp substrate
    source: schultz2024
    where: SEM section (Figure 10 and text); TGA section (brown component)
  - environment: Biological contamination during growth (lab, not an in-service test)
    headline: Some fibre types grew slowly and were overrun by contaminants during growth.
    effect: Trametes versicolor grew poorly on flax dust, straw dust, pine softwood and straw after 10 days. Flax dust and straw dust showed slow growth and systematic contamination, so those samples were not tested further. The fibres were autoclaved at 121 degC for 20 minutes before inoculation.
    rating: low
    conditions:
      exposure: inoculation and growth, lab scale
      material: Trametes versicolor on several agricultural fibres
    source: elsacker2019
    where: Results, growth observations (text); Materials and methods, autoclaving
uses:
  - application: thermal-control
    device: Insulation panel from grown mycelium composite
    example: Jimenez-Obando et al. (2025) describe a Ganoderma lucidum composite on agricultural waste as an insulating material, with thermal conductivity of 0.047 W/m K.
    source: jimenez2025
    where: Abstract
  - application: habitats-and-suits
    device: Habitat structures for the Moon and Mars, grown in place
    example: NASA Ames Phase II report describes a prototype that fills a porous scaffold with mycelia, tested in a planetary simulator. It is a concept study, not a flight system.
    source: nasa-phase2-2024
    where: Sections 4.5 and 4.6; Introduction summary
media: []
documents:
  - title: Mycotecture Off Planet, NIAC Phase II Final Report (NTRS 20250001059)
    type: report
    url: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20250001059
    year: 2024
  - title: Mechanical, physical and chemical characterisation of mycelium-based composites with different types of lignocellulosic substrates (PLoS ONE)
    type: paper
    url: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6645453/
    year: 2019
  - title: Thermal Degradation and Fire Properties of Fungal Mycelium and Mycelium-Biomass Composite Materials (Scientific Reports)
    type: paper
    url: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6279784
    year: 2018
  - title: Characterization of Mycelium Biocomposites under Simulated Weathering Conditions (ACS Applied Bio Materials)
    type: paper
    url: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11653254
    year: 2024
gaps:
  - 'Supply volumes and prices: no source read gives agricultural-waste volumes or mycelium composite prices. Ecovative homepage production figures were still loading when read. Feedstock suppliers are named (Elsacker 2019) but without volumes.'
  - No spore, allergen or safety data sheet was read. A web search for basidiomycete spore allergenicity returned only snippets, not fetched pages, so no value is taken from it. Hazards for people remain unverified.
  - 'Mould growth in service: no quantitative mould-growth result was read. The Wildman 2026 mould dataset (University of Bath Research Data Archive) was located but the file could not be opened in this run. A Wildman 2026 journal paper on mould susceptibility was found but not fetched.'
  - UV and direct sunlight exposure were not tested in the sources read. Schultz et al. say the material is not meant for direct sunlight, so UV ageing is unknown.
  - Flexural strength was reported for one material only. The Ecovative spec sheet was not reachable (HTTP 403 and an error page), so its flexural, fire and vapour-retarder values are not used.
  - Flame spread and full-scale fire rating were not found in the sources read. Jones et al. give cone heat release only. An EI 15 full-scale panel rating was mentioned in a review but not read.
  - Fire and ignition times are not stated numerically in Jones et al. Time to ignition is not reported as a number.
  - Water absorption for the NASA and Waskar materials is not given numerically.
  - NASA Phase II report gives compressive results in a figure (Figure 39) that could not be read as text; only qualitative ordering is used.
  - The NTRS 2021 IAC abstract (Lipinska et al.) calls the composites fire-resistant and insulating, but gives no numbers, so it is cited only in the narrative.
  - Properties char_yield, shrinkage and peak_heat_release_rate are not in the canonical property list and are written as snake_case names.
  - Density, compressive and thermal values come from different fungi, substrates and test methods, and are not directly comparable. Two values (afridi2026 and yang2020) rest on second-hand or thesis abstracts.
  - No lunar or Martian environmental test result (vacuum, UV, radiation, thermal cycling) was read beyond the qualitative NASA statements. No flight result exists.
  - Media (photographs or diagrams with licence) not added in this run.
sources:
  elsacker2019:
    title: Mechanical, physical and chemical characterisation of mycelium-based composites with different types of lignocellulosic substrates
    id: 'doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0213954 (PLoS ONE 14(7): e0213954)'
    url: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6645453/
    year: 2019
    kind: paper
    license: CC BY 4.0
  waskar2026:
    title: Mechanical, Thermal, and Biodegradation Analysis of Fungal Mycelium Composite Blocks for Green Material Engineering
    id: Mechanics of Advanced Composite Structures (Semnan University)
    url: https://macs.semnan.ac.ir/article_10939.html
    year: 2026
    kind: paper
    license: journal terms (abstract read)
  jimenez2025:
    title: Development and Characterization of Mycelium-Based Composite Using Agro-Industrial Waste and Ganoderma lucidum as Insulating Material
    id: Jimenez-Obando et al. (journal not identified in the PDF)
    url: https://mdpi-res.com/d_attachment/jof/jof-11-00460/article_deploy/jof-11-00460.pdf
    year: 2025
    kind: paper
    license: open access (per URL, not confirmed)
  jones2018:
    title: Thermal Degradation and Fire Properties of Fungal Mycelium and Mycelium-Biomass Composite Materials
    id: Scientific Reports 8, 17583 (PMC6279784)
    url: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6279784
    year: 2018
    kind: paper
    license: CC BY 4.0
  schultz2024:
    title: Characterization of Mycelium Biocomposites under Simulated Weathering Conditions
    id: ACS Applied Bio Materials 7(12), 8408-8422
    url: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11653254
    year: 2024
    kind: paper
    license: open access (PMC)
  afridi2026:
    title: 'Sustainable Mycelium Biocomposites: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Strain, Substrate, and Processing Effects on Material Properties'
    id: ISRG Journal of Engineering and Technology (ISSN 3107-5894), Zenodo record 21308073
    url: https://zenodo.org/records/21308073
    year: 2026
    kind: paper
    license: not stated
  yang2020:
    title: Investigations of Mycelium as a Low-carbon Building Material (ENGS 88 Honors Thesis)
    id: Dartmouth College, Spring 2020
    url: https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/engs88/21/
    year: 2020
    kind: report
    license: not stated
  nasa-phase2-2024:
    title: Mycotecture Off Planet, NIAC Phase II Final Report
    id: NTRS 20250001059 (NASA Ames; dated March 2024, NTRS acquired January 2025)
    url: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20250001059
    year: 2024
    kind: report
    license: public domain (NASA)
  lipinska2021:
    title: Growth as an Alternative Approach to the Construction of Extra-Terrestrial Habitats (IAC 2021)
    id: NTRS 20210021668
    url: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20210021668
    year: 2021
    kind: report
    license: public domain (NASA)
  ecovative-web:
    title: Ecovative homepage (company statement on mycelium composites and AirMycelium)
    id: Company website, no document identifier
    url: https://ecovative.com/
    year: 2026
    kind: web
    license: company website, terms not checked
license: CC-BY-4.0
updated: '2026-10-19'
review:
  status: draft
  method: assistant
  checked_values: 29
  unreachable: 2
  caveats: 3
  note: Read by an AI assistant on 2026-10-19 from fetched pages and one NASA PDF. Ecovative spec sheet and mould dataset not reachable or not read. Pooled and thesis values are second-hand.