Can We Grow Plants on Mars?
Last year, NASA announced that they had found water on Mars. This posed a question to scientists: Could we grow plants in the soil of Mars? Trace explains what is necessary to grow crops on...
==========
Plants evolved here on Earth, but what if we could take them with us to the stars? Hey gang, Trace here for DNews with your Weekly Space Update. Last year, NASA announced we'd found water on Mars, and that got some people thinking... could future astronauts grow crops in the Martian soil? It's taken us thousands of years to hone farming on Earth; we could plant crops 'til the cows come home but what's good for the Earth goose may not be good for the Martian gander. Soil needs a lot more than water to grow a plant. Soil on Earth contains living and dead organisms including bacteria and plant matter, rocks and minerals, and nutrients like nitrogen -- it takes more than 500 years to form an inch of topsoil on Earth. As far as we know, Mars doesn...
==========
Plants evolved here on Earth, but what if we could take them with us to the stars? Hey gang, Trace here for DNews with your Weekly Space Update. Last year, NASA announced we'd found water on Mars, and that got some people thinking... could future astronauts grow crops in the Martian soil? It's taken us thousands of years to hone farming on Earth; we could plant crops 'til the cows come home but what's good for the Earth goose may not be good for the Martian gander. Soil needs a lot more than water to grow a plant. Soil on Earth contains living and dead organisms including bacteria and plant matter, rocks and minerals, and nutrients like nitrogen -- it takes more than 500 years to form an inch of topsoil on Earth. As far as we know, Mars doesn...
