How possible is crop-growing on Mars? Although the Matt Damon film 'The Martian' based on a novel by Andy Weir is riddled with plotholes and errors scientifically speaking, the fact of growing plants on Mars is actually not far-fetched.
NASA scientists, in cooperation with the International Potato Center (CIP), will experiment with growing potatoes under simulations of Mars-like conditions. This comes at a good time considering that conditions created by climate change-related disasters and damages are swiftly bearing resemblance to the agricultural inhospitableness on Mars. Famine figures have grown to reach 842 million people.
As CIP Head of Communications, Joel Ranck, says: "How better to learn about climate change than by growing crops on a planet that died two billion years ago? We need people to understand that if we can grow potatoes in extreme conditions like those on Mars, we can save lives on Earth."
CIP has, in fact, been exploring the potentials in potato farming by recreating the conditions of unusual places and areas and planting potatoes in these simulations.
Science team lead for the project, SETI Researcher Associate Julio E Valdivia-Silva of Nasa, highlights: "I am excited to put potatoes on Mars and even more so that we can use a simulated Martian terrain so close to the area where potatoes originated."
Planetary scientist Chris McKay of the Nasa Ames research centre adds: "The extraordinary efforts of the team have set the bar for extra-terrestrial farming. The idea of growing food for human colonies in space could be a reality very soon."
Astrobiologist Melissa Guzman at Nasa Ames expresses: "The image of students building plant growth payloads and communicating virtually from labs in California, Lima, and Dubai is exciting for the future of planetary exploration and astrobiology. We see the science, educational, and humanitarian goals as being intertwined. In the process of working together toward establishing a community on Mars, our students will also be establishing a community on Earth."