Martian Food? Vertical Farming May One Day Cultivate Crops on Mars

Hold onto your spacesuits, folks! We might be one step closer to becoming an interplanetary species. The red planet has always been a subject of fascination for humanity, and we have been dreaming of visiting it for as long as we can remember.

Now, a French-American startup called Interstellar Lab may have taken us one step closer to making that dream a reality, as per a feature report from CNN.

Sustaining Humans on Mars with NUCLEUS

As if sending humans to Mars was not hard enough, the biggest challenge is sustaining them once they are there.

With an atmosphere 100 times thinner than Earth's, half the sunlight, no known accessible fresh water, and temperatures that could freeze off your nose, Mars is undoubtedly the most inhospitable place for humans to produce food.

But Interstellar Lab might just have a solution that could save human tummies once they live in the Red Planet.

Say hello to NUCLEUS! A modular structure composed of nine cube capsules designed to provide a nutritious diet for four astronauts for a two-year mission on Mars. Think of it as a compact, food-producing farm that fits snugly inside a spaceship.

The folks at Interstellar Lab say that NUCLEUS is capable of producing fresh microgreens, vegetables, mushrooms, and even edible insects.

"Interstellar Lab is the pursuit of a child's dream in the context of the climate crisis on Earth," CEO Barbara Belvisi said in a statement with CNN.

"At the youngest age, I dreamt of becoming a multi-planet species and to live under domes on other planets, surrounded by plants." Well, it looks like Belvisi's dreams are about to come true!

The secret to NUCLEUS's success lies in its vertical crop systems. Imagine rows and rows of plants growing without soil in a controlled environment, where nutrient-rich water is delivered straight to their roots. It's called vertical farming, and many scientists consider it the best option for Martian agriculture.

Not only does it use significantly less water and fertilizer than traditional outdoor agriculture, but by continuously recirculating water, it creates very little waste.

Vertical Farming for Mars and Everywhere

Vertical farming is not just for Mars; it can be used anywhere. A prime example is the Emirates Crop One facility in Dubai, which is the world's biggest vertical farm.

According to Crop One, its Dubai farm covers a whopping 330,000 square feet of vertical growing space and produces over 2 million pounds of crops every year, including kale, spinach, and arugula.

Deane Falcone, Crop One's chief scientific officer, says that the principles of vertical farming can be applied to essentially any harsh environment.

Furthermore, Falcone doesn't see vertical farming as solely a solution for Earth but also as a viable option for agriculture on Mars.

With vertical farming, he explains that you can manipulate daylight hours to influence the plant's growth and development, even promoting flowering by adjusting the timing of the lighting.

As for the concern of zero gravity during the nine-month journey to Mars, Falcone proposes the use of hydroponics, which is the most common form of vertical farming and doesn't require gravity to function.