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A potato authority is attempting to grow hardy varieties of tubers in Mars-like soil:
The International Potato Center (CIP) launched a series of experiments to discover if potatoes can grow under Mars atmospheric conditions and thereby prove they are also able to grow in extreme climates on Earth. This Phase Two effort of CIP's proof of concept experiment to grow potatoes in simulated Martian conditions began on February 14, 2016 when a tuber was planted in a specially constructed CubeSat contained environment built by engineers from University of Engineering and Technology (UTEC) in Lima based upon designs and advice provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in Ames Research Center (NASA ARC), California. Preliminary results are positive.
[...] The CubeSat houses a container holding soil and the tuber. Inside this hermetically sealed environment the CubeSat delivers nutrient rich water, controls the temperature for Mars day and night conditions and mimics Mars air pressure, oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. Sensors constantly monitor these conditions and live streaming cameras record the soil in anticipation of the potato sprouting. Live streams of the experiment can be viewed at potatoes.space/mars or by going to the CIP website at www.CIPotato.org.
[...] From the initial experiment, CIP scientists concluded that future Mars missions that hope to grow potatoes will have to prepare soil with a loose structure and nutrients to allow the tubers to obtain enough air and water to allow it to tuberize. "It was a pleasant surprise to see that potatoes we've bred to tolerate abiotic stress were able to produce tubers in this soil," Amoros said. He added that one of the best performing varieties was very salt-tolerant from the CIP breeding program for adaptation to subtropical lowlands with tolerance to abiotic stress that was also recently released as a variety in Bangladesh for cultivation in coastal areas with high soil salinity. Amoros noted that whatever their implications for Mars missions, the experiments have already provided good news about potato's potential for helping people survive in extreme environments on Earth.
CubeSat on the ground? Or a plastic terrarium?
(Score: 2) by turgid on Friday March 10 2017, @06:42PM (3 children)
It will be a day to celebrate when the first crop of Martian Golden Wonders is harvested.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday March 10 2017, @07:02PM (2 children)
It's pretty disgusting how long some Earth fast food joints go without changing their frying oil.
I'm not sure I want fries with that if the last resupply ship was 18 months ago.
(Score: 2) by turgid on Friday March 10 2017, @09:20PM (1 child)
I was going to suggest boiling them with their skins on, then I realised the implications of the water cycle on space missions.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Immerman on Friday March 10 2017, @10:05PM
Boiling pretty much fixes that as well.
It's not like the water cycle is substantially different on Earth, you just get a few more steps in the process. Or not. I mean if you live downriver from another city the water going into your water treatment plant pretty much came straight out of the sewage treatment plant upstream. And bottled water is no better - those pure bubbling springs on the label are strictly marketing gimmicks, you're getting basically the same water, just with maybe a little more filtering and added perfume, and the benefit of sitting around leaching pseudoestrogens out of the bottle for a few weeks or months.