The race to send astronauts and then other people to Mars is on the go. Finding ways to then safely build on the red planet is now also on the table.

A team of researchers from the Singapore University of Technology and Design has proposed chitin-based materials as the best option to construct buildings and manufacture tools on Mars. Astronauts will only need to bring the material, and the rest will be sourceable directly from the red planet, such as using its soil.

The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE earlier this month.