But can they grow in Martian soil? Its regolith is missing crucial nutrients, methinks. Otherwise, wow! The Martian's premise might actually be realistic!
Study: Potatoes can grow on Mars
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Re: Study: Potatoes can grow on Mars
#22Hey, I read that book too.
Re: Study: Potatoes can grow on Mars
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm pretty sure Martians measure temperature in Celsius.
0 degrees Celsius being the freezing temperature of water at sea-level atmospheric pressure, that doesn't make much more sense either :-)
technically it's defined as 0.01°C being the triple point of water. And since the solid-liquid boundary in the phase diagram[0] is relatively stable across wide pressure ranges that means that 0°C being the melting point is not just true at a single pressure value.
[0] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Phase_di...
Re: Study: Potatoes can grow on Mars
#24From the article: "The box mimics the day-night patterns of Mars, as well as its temperature, air pressure and atmospheric composition." Wait, really? They're growing plants in what's practically a vacuum and at subzero temperatures? Really? That seems... stupendously unlikely... to me. Not that I wouldn't love to be wrong, mind. Anyone have a link to actual data? Everything linked to is just press fluff. Update: Act…
On the Cody's Lab YouTube channel, Cody did expose potato plants to Martian atmospheric pressure for short periods of time. Apparently, potato plants can survive a decompression event, so long as you get them back to an Earthlike environment promptly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8VPvBr4ppU I doubt they could survive extended exposure, though.
And 'survive' is something far different than 'grow'.
Re: Study: Potatoes can grow on Mars
#25But can they grow in Martian soil? Its regolith is missing crucial nutrients, methinks. Otherwise, wow! The Martian's premise might actually be realistic!
It's possible to grow potatoes hydroponically, so growing them in unprocessed Martian regolith is unlikely to be important until the number of Martians hits six figures.
Re: Study: Potatoes can grow on Mars
#26I know, I saw Matt Daemon grow potatoes on Mars in an in-flight documentary called "The Martian".
I definitely read an article after that movie came out about confused moviegoers that thought it was based on a true story.
On one end of the spectrum, you have people who doubt that we landed a man on the Moon. On the other end, you have people who think we had a man grow potatoes on Mars.
What a time to be alive.
Re: Study: Potatoes can grow on Mars
#27But how do they simulate Martian gravity?
Re: Study: Potatoes can grow on Mars
#28But can they grow in Martian soil? Its regolith is missing crucial nutrients, methinks. Otherwise, wow! The Martian's premise might actually be realistic!
It's possible to grow potatoes hydroponically, so growing them in unprocessed Martian regolith is unlikely to be important until the number of Martians hits six figures.
So you're going to bring your own soil everywhere? That's the unsustainable part. Terraforming would take thousands of years.
Re: Study: Potatoes can grow on Mars
#29They 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.
Add magnetic field at Lagrange point.
Re: Study: Potatoes can grow on Mars
#30"Scientists with the International Potato Center" made my day.
They're a Russian import.