What about vegetables grown on Mars?

The soil on Mars could be appropriate for cultivating meals crops – this is the prognosis of a study by plant ecologist Wieger Wamelink of Wageningen UR. This would prove very practical if we ever decide to send men and women on a one particular-way trip to the red planet. Soon after all, if we are going to live anywhere in outer space in the future Mars stands a good possibility of being the spot.

In a exclusive pilot experiment Wieger tested the development of 14 plant varieties on artificial Mars soil over 50 days. NASA composed the soil based on the volcanic soil of Hawaii. To his surprise, the plants grew effectively some even blossomed. "I had anticipated the germination procedure to function, but I thought the plants would die due to a lack of nutrients," Wieger explains. The soil evaluation showed, nonetheless, that Mars soil contains more nutrients than expected. In addition to phosphorus and iron oxides, the scientist located nitrogen, an necessary plant nutrient.

Professor Leo Marcelis of Wageningen University is advisor in the 'Mars One' project and a single of Wieger Wamelink's colleagues. He is seeking into cultivation systems that should really make increasing vegetables on Mars feasible. "As it is not possible to take every little thing from earth, we will need to create meals if we want to go into space. This needs understanding on cultivation systems that function nicely in Mars conditions," says Leo.

According to the scientist, it is a huge challenge to install such a life assistance technique on Mars. One aspect of plant cultivation is the soil, but there are plenty additional challenges on the red planet. The low gravity, for instance, creates challenges with the water provide as it makes it hard for water to run downwards. The low gravity also signifies there are concerns with the exchange of gases by the plant such as carbon dioxide and oxygen. This causes them to grow slower and evaporate less water. Moreover, Mars hardly has any atmosphere, the temperatures are low and there is much significantly less light than on earth.


/AzerTAc/