A successful experiment has been carried out by scientists at Wageningen University, under lead scientist Dr Wieger Wamelink to replicate the soil conditions found on planet Mars and grow vegetables. The results have been good and according to Dr Wamelink, the yields came surprisingly close to those grown in normal compost. The species that were grown were tomato, rye, radish, pea, leek, spinach, rocket, cress, quinoa, and chives and it appears that six of these were successfully harvested.
If all of this reminds readers that something similar took place in the sci-fi movie The Martian, they would be correct as we are reminded that in the movie, astronaut Mark Warney, who was played by Matt Damon, also grew vegetables when he became stranded on the Red Planet. This led the researchers to try to emulate him, which they have done.
As Dr Wamelink pointed out, Mars simulated soil is fine as long as it’s prepared and well-watered, much better than moon soil, and whilst crops grew in this, they did only half as well. The project was the second attempt to try to see what kind of gardening could be done by any future settlers on the moon and Mars. The soils used in the experiments were supplied to the Netherlands by the American space agency NASA; these were designed to be as close as it is possible to the real thing and were obtained from a Hawaiian volcano for the “Martian” style and the “lunar” soil came from the Arizona desert.
Naturally the experiment could not simulate exactly the growing conditions on Mars, growing on the surface would be virtually impossible because the planet is constantly being bombarded by energetic particles, making it impossible. They could however be grown in underground rooms to protect the plants from the hostile environment, including cosmic radiation.
In case anyone was wondering, unlike astronaut Mark Warney, the researchers did not eat their vegetables, due as Dr Wamelink explained, the soils containing heavy metals like lead, arsenic and mercury and also a lot of iron.
If all of this reminds readers that something similar took place in the sci-fi movie The Martian, they would be correct as we are reminded that in the movie, astronaut Mark Warney, who was played by Matt Damon, also grew vegetables when he became stranded on the Red Planet. This led the researchers to try to emulate him, which they have done.
As Dr Wamelink pointed out, Mars simulated soil is fine as long as it’s prepared and well-watered, much better than moon soil, and whilst crops grew in this, they did only half as well. The project was the second attempt to try to see what kind of gardening could be done by any future settlers on the moon and Mars. The soils used in the experiments were supplied to the Netherlands by the American space agency NASA; these were designed to be as close as it is possible to the real thing and were obtained from a Hawaiian volcano for the “Martian” style and the “lunar” soil came from the Arizona desert.
Naturally the experiment could not simulate exactly the growing conditions on Mars, growing on the surface would be virtually impossible because the planet is constantly being bombarded by energetic particles, making it impossible. They could however be grown in underground rooms to protect the plants from the hostile environment, including cosmic radiation.
In case anyone was wondering, unlike astronaut Mark Warney, the researchers did not eat their vegetables, due as Dr Wamelink explained, the soils containing heavy metals like lead, arsenic and mercury and also a lot of iron.
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