Could we feed a city on Mars? This question is central to the future of space exploration and has serious repercussions on Earth too.
Could we feed a city on Mars? This question is central to the future of space exploration and has serious repercussions on Earth too. To date, a lot of thought has gone into how astronauts eat; however, we are only beginning to produce food in space.
Space launches are quite expensive. And with the growing desire to establish a human presence in space, we are going to have to consider food production in space. But the challenges are vast, requiring research into how plants respond to a variety of changes including to gravity and radiation.
As food and agriculture researchers, we explored this question in our latest book, Dinner on Mars. We believe that a sustainable Martian food system is possible — and that in building it, we’ll change food systems on Earth. However, this will take some out-of-the-box thinking.
Read more at University of Guelph
Image: Dr. Evan Fraser (Credit: University of Guelph)
