Scientists Might Have Figured The Way To Feed Humans On Mars

Mars is certainly an exciting topic everyone is discussing. After Elon Musk announced to build a human colony on Mars by the end of the century, many questions are popping up. One of them being: What to eat on Mars? Researchers Kevin M. Cannon and Daniel T. Britt have researched on the same topic.

Mars Mission By SpaceX

The research paper by Cannon and Britt titled 'Feeding One Million People on Mars' talks a lot about what Elon Musk is planning with SpaceX. The space company will provide the core transportation support to move the population to Mars. SpaceX hopes to stimulate corporations and private individuals to move to Mars and take up development projects to support a growing settlement. The research paper talks in detail about SpaceX's mission and how it could be possible.

Firstly, the paper speaks about the SpaceX's initial crew of 12 people, followed by the multiple ships of 100-200 passengers heading to Mars every 26 months with a new launch. Lastly, the paper talks about an eventual population of 1 million people living on the planet within 50-100 Earth years.

What Can You Grow On Mars

Mars is also called the Red Planet and that's for a reason. The temperature and climatic conditions are unfavorable to raise livestock. This means, the human population will need to rely on advanced food technologies and other sources of protein, especially if they wish to follow a non-vegan diet. You can still have milk, eggs, meat, fish, and other food items on your table on Mars, but these have to be grown in bioreactors from cells. Again, they have to be imported from Earth.

Researchers Cannon and Britt add that there's a possibility Earthen plants can also be grown on Mars with hydroponics. The plants have to be cultivated to grow indoors where humans can control the light and other atmospheric conditions. Plants that require minimal water for cultivation and produce a high yield will be most favorable to grow on Mars.

SpaceX has about 100 years to bring its ambitious mission to reality. While the preparations have already begun, SpaceX will still have a long way to go. Who knows, we may even get a chance to taste the Martian food even before we get there!