This October, a shipping container called Eden ISS will arrive at the Neumayer III polar station in Antarctica. The plan is to grow around 40 different plants in it, such as basil and strawberries. While not the first greenhouse on Antarctica, this one has a special purpose. Space agencies will be monitoring it in order to get an idea of the challenges that must be overcome to grow food in a harsh, inhospitable environment. The one in mind – Mars.

It would cost an estimated $1bn per person per year to send food to them

With NASA hoping to send humans to Mars by the 2030s, figuring out how to provide colonists with food is a major priority, especially as it would cost an estimated $1bn per person per year to send food to them.

Growing food would not be as easy. Martian soil, or regolith, contains many toxic chemicals which would have to be removed before anything could grow there. The soil wouldn’t contain any beneficial microbes, so current ideas suggest removing the harmful substances and then seeding the soil with genetically engineered microbes, possibly even before the colonists arrive, with the help of “farm bots”.

Nitrogen and phospohrus cycles

"We believe that, in the long term, by reincorporating the microbes and organisms that co-exist with plants [on Earth] will be able to create sustainable nitrogen and phosphorus cycles [on Mars]," says Drew Palmer, assistant professor of biological sciences at Florida Tech.

Fertiliser is also an issue, and the question of whether it would be shipped from Earth or produced on Mars. Other issues include freezing temperatures, lack of flowing water and unbreathable air.

An unexpected benefit of growing plants in space is a psychological one. In the “Veggie” experiment run by the International Space Station (which managed to grow consumable lettuce in zero gravity using hydroponics – growing plants without soil), astronauts really enjoyed taking care of the plants as it was a link with home.

Climate change

These experiments could potentially become more important as our climate changes. If once fertile land becomes drier and hotter, new farming methods will need to be implemented; methods originally destined for another planet.

Questions such as how energy use and growing system mass could be reduced while not producing too much heat are relevant questions to both a warming planet with a booming population and a space station.

Vertical farms already use many “space age” techniques, such as the use of LEDs to grow plants year-round and hydroponics.

“There is actually a lot of crossover.” Says Gioia Massa, NASA researcher, of both techniques used in urban farms and their research.

And if we can invent the technology to help us survive off world, perhaps we can invent something to allow us to fix our environmental mistakes on this one.

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