To send a man to the moon (and back) is no easy task at all, what more to be able to send a human all the way to Mars. While science fiction had always explored the possibility of living elsewhere other than on planet earth, or finding just another planet like ours, such reality is still very far off, if ever. There are plenty of preparations that need to be done beforehand, and researchers have managed to come up with a way to grow crops using simulated Martian and Lunar soil, theoretically speaking, it was as though one were in such environments.
Of course, some Earth dirt was certainly part of the formula, so to speak. Researchers from the Dutch Wageningen University and Research Center announced that they have managed to cultivate 10 food crops successfully in soil that, by all intents and purposes, simulate what astronauts would come across should they be on the Red Planet or nearer home, on the moon. So far, tomatoes, peas, rye, garden rocket, radish and garden cress have been harvested, which is a quantum leap compared to last year’s experiments that resulted in only a handful of individual plants germinating.
Dr Wieger Wamelink shared, “The total above-ground biomass produced on the Mars soil simulant was not significantly different from the potting compost we used as a control.” Do bear in mind that this is still in its early stages, as it has yet to be peer reviewed. It also remains to be seen whether the crops yielded would be lacking in any kind of nutrients as opposed to their earth-grown counterparts due to the difference in growth conditions.