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Study: Potatoes can grow on Mars

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Re: Study: Potatoes can grow on Mars

#8
I think this article is wrong about the temperature. There is little information available but here is the original press release http://cipotato.org/press-room/blog/indicators-show-potatoes...

From what I can gather they used soil from some Peruvian desert and increased the CO2 in the chamber. But there is no mention of simulating the -80F night temperatures typical on Mars.

Re: Study: Potatoes can grow on Mars

#9
post #8

I think this article is wrong about the temperature. There is little information available but here is the original press release http://cipotato.org/press-room/blog/indicators-show-potatoes... From what I can gather they used soil from some Peruvian desert and increased the CO2 in the chamber. But there is no mention of simulating the -80F night temperatures typical on Mars.

I'm pretty sure Martians measure temperature in Celsius.

Re: Study: Potatoes can grow on Mars

#10
post #7

They didn't mention whether they tried to simulate the radiation levels plants would experience on Mars in their experiment. I don't know whether that would change the results.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22520-mars-is-safe-fr...

I didn't know the answer so I googled it. Apparently it isn't that high.

"Readings from NASA’s Curiosity rover suggest radiation levels on the Red Planet are about the same as those in low Earth orbit, where astronauts hang out for months on the International Space Station."

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