Mars Soil could Grow Asparagus

[RangerPL]

Lol I can see the what ads we'll have in 30 years.

"Buy our excellent Martian asparagus, only for $5.99/kg"

 

[DaveS]

In conclusion, is there water on Mars? Cause I saw some statement on nasa.gov "After confirming water ice on mars..."

This has been known for years. It was initially discoverd by Mars Odyssey and all Phoenix has done is confirming Odyssey's findings.

 

[Lunchbox]

I can definitely see a sample return mission from Mars, but not until NASA has gotten back to the moon. Perhaps the lander could grow some veggies in the soil so when the astronauts get there they can have a salad?

 

[darthsithvalek]

This has been known for years. It was initially discoverd by Mars Odyssey and all Phoenix has done is confirming Odyssey's findings.

Then i'm very outdated :fool:
Thanks for the headups!

 

[Andy44]

What happens to the water after it sublimates, though? On Earth, evaporated water stays in the system and just comes back down as rain. You can recycle it over and over.

What happens to water vapor on Mars? Is it lost for good once it's exposed to the atmosphere? If you can't recycle it, then Martian water ice won't support a large colony for a long time, without some kind of artificial recycling system, which may be prone to failure and leaking.

 

[eveningsky339]

Surely if you built a greenhouse on the surface, you could start it off by pumping in outside CO2 and using small tanks of O2 get the internal atmosphere started and then let the plants sustain the O2 (which if they made enough could be siphoned out and stored). You could generate heat from solar panels or a small reactor and let them grow in the martian soil...

But who wants asparagus? I might wait for the next planet that can grow cheeseburgers and potatoes...

From what I understand asparagus is a pretty hardy plant. But the question is, would future colonists of the Red Planet tolerate eating asparagus 24 hours a day?

 

[Andy44]

Sure would make the waste collection system stink.