NASA is planning how to raise potatoes on Mars and solve the food problems during Mars migration

BySethoscope

movies"Odyssey, There is a scene where one botanist Watney who plays Matt Damon is left on Mars and raises potato to survive but planning to grow potato on Mars as for movies as for movie to Mars migration NASA has started. As a first step, using the earth desert soil that closely resembles the soil of Mars, we are choosing a variety of potatoes suitable for Mars.

NASA Really Is Trying to Grow Potatoes on Mars - WSJ
http://www.wsj.com/articles/nasa-really-is-trying-to-grow-potatoes-on-mars-1460560325


Experiments for raising potatoes using desert soil were conducted with NASA scientists and potato specialized research facilities in Lima, PeruInternational Potato CenterWhat we are doing jointly by researchers. NASA 's Mars probe CURIO City succeeded in landing on Mars in 2012, discovering that there is water on Mars, NASA also has manned flight to MarsUnder planningis. From now on, for mankind to settle on Mars, it is considered that food raised on Mars is indispensable, where potatoes have been touched.

Potato grows adaptively to every climate on the earth, and furthermore it contains abundant nutrients such as carbohydrate, protein, vitamin C, iron, zinc, so it is eaten in a wide area around the world. Chris McKay, who is researching potatoes at NASA 's Ames Research Center in California, said, "Since potatoes have many varieties, I think they will be able to find varieties growing on cold and low - pressure Mars than the Earth," I am talking. Furthermore, on Mars, it seems that potatoes can be expected to be used not only for edible but also as dyes and batteries.

ByHidetsugu Tonomura

In the Pampas de Hoya district in the southern part of Peru only rain fell by about 1 mm a year, according to NASA it is a soil condition that closely resembles Mars, so he is conducting research as a laboratory. Especially the Atacama Desert seems to resemble the soil of Mars very much. The photo on the left is the soil of Mars, the right is the desert of the Pampas de Hoya district. Both are red brown earth spreading.


As the first step to find varieties of potatoes most suitable for growing on Mars, we selected 65 types of potatoes of strong variety, carried about 600 kg of soil from the desert to the laboratory of Lima, and the growth situation of potatoes The experiment to observe in the laboratory has started. The potato that grew well is planned to further grow in a simulator that reproduces the atmospheric condition of Mars. Julio Valdivia-Silva, an astrobiologist working at NASA, said, "Potatoes grown on Mars must be potatoes of delicious variety and the plan to move organisms to another location outside the earth has been It is something that human race has never experienced and it will be a very big challenge. "

Walter Amoros, a scientist at the International Potato Center, speculated that "About half of the 65 potatoes can be raised in the desert soil, but only about 10 species growing to just the right size" It is. Mr. Amoros is concerned that potatoes may become stronger bitterness than eaten when stress is applied such as shortage of water or high temperature, the taste may change, which makes it unable to eat. According to NASA, the temperature of Mars is Ce minus 64 degrees to minus 175 degrees, radiation dose is higher than Earth, gravity is about 60% of the earth. 96% of atmospheric constituents are carbon dioxide and only a small amount of oxygen is contained. Furthermore, because sandstorms occur frequently and the underground water contains salinity, growth conditions are quite different from that of the Earth, so Amoros says, "I think that potatoes will not grow in open spaces on Mars. In order to raise potatoes on Mars, we will have to build a dome and manage growing conditions. "

However, components such as oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, iron, magnesium, zinc and so on necessary for raising plants are found in the soil of Mars in a very small amount, and there is a great possibility that plants grow by adding fertilizer about.

Can Plants Grow with Mars Soil? | NASA
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/can-plants-grow-with-mars-soil


Currently, at the International Space Station, leafy vegetables such as lettuce are grown, and Chinese cabbage and tomatoes are also raised. It is thought that if human beings migrate to Mars, if we can grow food in the soil and space of Mars, it will lead to cost reduction and risk mitigation for transporting food from the earth by shuttle.

Crew Members Sample Leafy Greens Grown on Space Station | NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/meals_ready_to_eat