What a wonderful, arguably simple solution. The problem is, we're going to Mars, but how do we feed ourselves? Sure, we can take a lot of food with us, but that's a lot for the flight back. If we plan to colonize the red planet, we'll need even more. We'll need to grow or somehow manufacture food while we're there. The solution is an already wonderfully simple “biosphere”-style system: an aquarium! New research suggests that fish could be farmed in an aquatic system, and nutrient-rich water could fertilize and grow plants in the regolith! A recent simulation showed that vegetables could be grown in regolith fertilized with the aquarium's water!
In the next few decades, we may see humans colonize Mars. The red planet is 33 million miles away, and even aboard a rocket, it takes about 7 months to get there! Future colonists could simply have supply ships drop off everything they need, but that would be incredibly expensive and, quite frankly, unsustainable. The lucky people who colonize Mars will simply have to find a way to grow what they need.
If you've seen the movie The Martian with Matt Damon, you'll know how unforgiving the environment on Mars is. OK, the movie was a little vague in terms of scientific accuracy in places, but it certainly showed how inhospitable it really is. Matt managed to grow a decent crop of potatoes in Martian regolith fertilized with human feces. In real life, that might not be quite as practical, and there may be alternatives that are less smelly – and more dangerous.
NASA astronaut Dr. Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, when he is stranded on the Red Planet in “The Martian.” (Source: 20th Century Fox)
A team of researchers assumed that the colonists would need to grow fresh produce locally and decided to investigate the feasibility of this idea. At first glance, this doesn't seem like a great idea, as the atmosphere is toxic and consists of 95% carbon dioxide (compared to just 0.04% on Earth). On Mars, the day length is similar, but longer periods of light are required to grow crops. It is possible that at least water could be obtained from the ice that forms on and in the Martian rocks. The rocks certainly stored water, but also organic compounds that we know of.
The team wanted to find out how fish could help and whether water from the system could be used to add nutrients to the Martian regolith. To test the idea, they set up an aquaponics system with fish in tanks to create the nutrient-rich liquid.
The results were very promising. They found that aquaponic systems not only facilitate plant growth within the system itself, but the nutrient-rich water also acts as an excellent fertilizer, transforming the organic-poor regolith into something resembling usable soil. The fish used in the study were tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), and with them the team managed to grow potatoes, tomatoes, beans, carrots, and much more. To make all this possible, the fish were given sufficient light and other environmental stimuli. The plants were grown and actually thrived in a tent that simulated Mars in every way.
Interestingly, the study will not only benefit future astronauts, but also the inhabitants of ecologically less hospitable places on Earth.
Source: Fish and chips on Mars: Our research shows how colonists could produce their own food
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