China prepares to grow vegetables on Mars
1–10 of 132 posts
Re: China prepares to grow vegetables on Mars
#2As Bruce Sterling says: "I'll believe that people will colonise Mars when they start colonising the Gobi desert."
Re: China prepares to grow vegetables on Mars
#3Since soil samples on mars seem to be strongly oxidizing, even containing perchlorate, the vegetables are likely to catch fire upon touching martian soil.
Re: China prepares to grow vegetables on Mars
#4Since soil samples on mars seem to be strongly oxidizing, even containing perchlorate, the vegetables are likely to catch fire upon touching martian soil.
And growing vegetables on the moon is far too expensive to be practical - moon rocks cost thousands of dollars per gram!
EDIT: OK, for the benefit of whoever didn't have a sense of humor, I was suggesting that the astronauts might be planning on bringing some soil with them.
Re: China prepares to grow vegetables on Mars
#5Since soil samples on mars seem to be strongly oxidizing, even containing perchlorate, the vegetables are likely to catch fire upon touching martian soil.
Mix the soil with fine grained coal and water, and the oxidizing power disappear. The remaining coal can be used as a fertilizer. (I'm not sure if this is the more economical recipe.)
Re: China prepares to grow vegetables on Mars
#6would've been interesting to know what kind of vegetables.
Re: China prepares to grow vegetables on Mars
#7As Bruce Sterling says: "I'll believe that people will colonise Mars when they start colonising the Gobi desert."
The incentives for colonising the Gobi desert are vastly smaller than for a (small) colony on Mars or the moon, even just in perceived prestige.
Re: China prepares to grow vegetables on Mars
#8Well, I'm glad someone is thinking about what to do when they get there.
Re: China prepares to grow vegetables on Mars
#9It's odd that any mention of Elon Musk colonizing Mars results in rapturous worship.
Other efforts, China in particular, seem to attract scorn. Especially in light of the fact that Elon Musk's original plan was to send a greenhouse with plants to Mars.
Perhaps I over-estimate the HN crowd.
Re: China prepares to grow vegetables on Mars
#10Since soil samples on mars seem to be strongly oxidizing, even containing perchlorate, the vegetables are likely to catch fire upon touching martian soil.
And growing vegetables on the moon is far too expensive to be practical - moon rocks cost thousands of dollars per gram! EDIT: OK, for the benefit of whoever didn't have a sense of humor, I was suggesting that the astronauts might be planning on bringing some soil with them.
ever heard of supply and demand?