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posted by CoolHand on Friday March 10 2017, @06:31PM   Printer-friendly
from the straight-outta-the-martian dept.

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?


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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 10 2017, @07:01PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 10 2017, @07:01PM (#477468)

    I smell bullshit and there's not much shit or soil on Mars: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil [wikipedia.org]

    Most parts of Mars have too low atmospheric pressures for liquid water to exist - it will either be solid or gas.
    Most parts of Mars have too low temperatures for liquid water to exist - it will be solid.
    Therefore you are unlikely to be able to grow potatoes on most parts of Mars unless you grow them in temperature controlled pressurized environment.

    Here is a diagram showing a phase diagram of water: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Phase_diagram_of_water.svg/725px-Phase_diagram_of_water.svg.png [wikimedia.org]

    Note that the atmospheric pressure on most places in Mars is 600 Pascals (6 millibar) which is just below the pressure required for liquid water.

    http://www.space.com/16907-what-is-the-temperature-of-mars.html [space.com]

    On average, the temperature on Mars is about minus 80 degrees F (minus 60 degrees C). In winter, near the poles temperatures can get down to minus 195 degrees F (minus 125 degrees C). A summer day on Mars may get up to 70 degrees F (20 degrees C) near the equator, but at night the temperature can plummet to about minus 100 degrees F (minus 73 C).

    Potatoes can survive a bit of frost (they've got reserves), but I doubt they'll do well if they get frozen to -70C on a nightly basis

    I'm more likely to have a potato successfully growing in my freezer than them actually successfully growing potatoes in an accurate replication of a typical Martian outdoor environment.

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  • (Score: 2) by Taibhsear on Friday March 10 2017, @07:39PM

    by Taibhsear (1464) on Friday March 10 2017, @07:39PM (#477487)

    I may not be correct in this as I have no citation but I was under the impression that the plants wouldn't be grown straight out on the Martian surface. I imagine in some sort of dome or greenhouse, just using the martian soil as it is plentiful and does not need to be transported from Earth. In which case the temperature would be higher and possibly more stable, enough to keep liquid water. I am interested in seeing if the natural atmospheric mixture is sufficiently high enough in carbon dioxide that the plants could thrive. In which case they could double as oxygen generators for the base while using the outside atmosphere as a supply (or people breathing, or both).

  • (Score: 2) by Immerman on Friday March 10 2017, @10:51PM

    by Immerman (3985) on Friday March 10 2017, @10:51PM (#477575)

    >and mimics Mars air pressure, oxygen and carbon dioxide levels

    Assuming they're not outright lying, that would suggest you're mistaken.

    One possible problem - those phase diagrams are for pure water, something that basically doesn't exist outside the lab. Pretty much any sort of "contamination" lowers the freezing point. (And even for pure water they can be misleading - at one atmosphere you can cool liquid water as low as -40C before it freezes, unless there's a seed crystal or ambient chemical catalysts to start the process. On Earth, lots of microbes create such catalysts to promote frost damage in plants (aka lunch))

    As it is, there's even considerable (though last I heard not conclusive ) evidence that liquid water regularly flows near the surface of Mars.

    As for providing heat and pressure to make thing simpler, you make it sound like that would be a challenge. But just make a greenhouse with a big inflated bag with dirt in the bottom. Make the bag IR (only) reflective and it will heat up even faster. Add some insulation underneath (you don't need any on the walls, you're basically in a vacuum thermos), and you'll have to figure out how to shed all the excess heat.

  • (Score: 2) by mhajicek on Saturday March 11 2017, @03:51AM

    by mhajicek (51) on Saturday March 11 2017, @03:51AM (#477661)

    Dig a trench. Water and atmosphere will pool if it's deep enough.

    --
    The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek