Build a 'green oasis' to plant trees on Mars, why not?

Confident scientists have solved the problem of growing food in the harsh environment on Mars, with carpet materials transforming into suitable soil for cultivation.

The astronauts who set foot on Mars in the future may not lack vegetables in their daily meals. According to Guardian, a new invention, the "airgel" carpet - will simulate the greenhouse effect on Earth, transforming the cold and dry surface of the red planet, into a suitable environment for farming.

'Aerogel' blocks harmful UV rays

'Aerogel' - air glue, is the invention of NASA scientists.

The greenhouse effect keeps energy from sunlight remaining on Earth thanks to CO ₂ and other gases in the atmosphere. The airgel creates a similar effect, helping to warm the cultivated ground and melting the surface ice enough to make food plants live.

The 'glue' used for these carpets is 97% made from air. The rest are silica binders, or silicon dioxide - more commonly called quartz , and are the most common component of sand.

In the future, humans can develop oases that can sustain life and grow on Mars.

Scientists at NASA's National Aeronautics and Space Agency, along with the University of Edinburgh, found that a 2-3cm thick 'aerogel' carpet could block harmful UV rays, but still allow light to penetrate. This ensures that photosynthesis can take place, while maintaining a moderate amount of heat, to melt frozen water on the Martian surface.

Robin Wordsworth, an expert in airgel mat development at Harvard, said: 'If we want to create a sustainable living environment on another planet with existing technologies, this approach is very effective. This model can be easily scaled. '

'The applied area can be flexible from a few hundred square meters, to a large area on the planet,' he added.

Preserve the primitive environment of Mars

In the case of humanity having to develop outside the Earth as predicted by Stephen Hawking, people in the future need to master the technology of growing food in new worlds.

However, planting on Mars will not be easy. The planet has a cold, arid and radioactive surface. Topsoil may contain many toxic chemicals. Meanwhile, the fragile atmosphere contains too little nitrogen.

In the past, scientists used to consider the plan of 'geochemistry', improving the atmosphere of the entire planet. In 1971, American astronomer Carl Sagan also proposed to completely melt ice in the far north of Mars, to create enough water in the planet's atmosphere.

The airgel carpet is in the group of more modest ideas of 'geomorphology'. This invention may not solve the entire problem of the Martian atmosphere, but it is enough to create oases that sustain life for plants and life forms using photosynthesis.

The Mars explorer robot Opportunity landed on "red planet" in 2004.

Wordsworth said, the advantage of this idea is that people will not "pollute" the early environment of Mars, with new life forms.

Published in the journal Nature, scientists say, airgel mats should be deployed in areas where there is a lot of freezing water on Mars.'This allows photosynthetic lifeforms to exist without interference too deeply,' the team claims.

According to Wordsworth, the project's short-term goal is for robots to test airgel mats on a small area of ​​the red planet.

'In the more distant future, this technology can support astronaut mission missions . The ultimate goal is to create a self-sustaining living environment , 'he said.

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