NASA scientists are now tending "Martian gardens" to learn what kind of plants are suitable for astronauts to cultivate on the Red Planet during future missions.
Manned missions to Mars will be especially challenging when it comes to packing food supplies since these space trips can last for a few years.
Now, NASA researchers are simulating Martian gardens under a program by NASA's Kennedy Space Center and the Florida Tech Buzz Aldrin Space Institute. This program could help mission scientists to overcome food production problems since the Red Planet is arid and dusty, possessing a tenuous atmosphere.
Growing crops on Mars will be very different from how it is done on Earth since farming on Martian soil will be impossible. The is because Martain soil contains volcanic rock with virtually no traces of organic compounds, making it impossible for plant life to thrive.
According to Trent Smith, the project manager of NASA's Kennedy Space Center's Vegetable Production System, scientific techniques are being applied to increase plant production as a supplement for astronauts' food diets. This experiment is being conducted on the International Space Station, where the space crew is gardening and studying plant biology.
Astronauts aboard the ISS are now using volcanic soil from Hawaii to simulate Martian soil, to grow assorted plants.
By using volcanic soil from Hawaii, researchers can test the amount of soil to utilize and which kind of nutrients are essential to be added to the soil to grow all sorts of crops in prime conditions.
The experiment shows that lettuce that has been grown with Hawaiian "Martian" soil had weaker root growth and slower germination rate when no extra nutrients were added, yet the taste was the same.