Growing vegetables on Mars

The greenhouse project on Mars by the University of Florida and Kennedy's Space Research Center (USA) was jointly named Green House (Greenhouse). Greenhouse (or rather glass cage) is made of transparent material, shaped bell-shaped, diameter 1m, high 1.2m, in the middle there is a cylinder placed along the vertical axis, the inside contains machines to control the climate parameters.

Professor Rob Ferl and his "child" will be brought to Mars

In theory, the best pressure in the glass cage must be equal to the pressure on the surface of Mars, ie 1/16 Earth's atmospheric pressure, but now, in practice, people can only keep only This number is from about 1/4 to 1/10 only. Because of the technical limitations and the researchers want to adapt the plants in the glass cages slowly under pressure conditions.

Professor Rob Ferl of the University of Florida, Greenhouse program manager, said scientists can create biochemical changes, regulate hormone levels and components to control and change plant reactions. in unusual living conditions. In addition, through these experiments, scientists also found an interesting phenomenon: low pressure conditions not only cause problems but also in some ways benefit plants.

Currently, scientists have only experimented with mature lettuce plants, the pressure and microclimate inside the glass are similar to the conditions on Mars, but in terms of lighting, they still have to use light. The sun has been filtered through the earth's atmosphere. Ferl's team had to study and analyze about 200,000 plant genes, with the means of micro-electronic chips, about a few micrometres in size.

So when can we plant trees directly on Mars soil, in the natural conditions of the red planet? Professor Ferl still does not have the correct answer and only said his team is conducting research at the end of this process.

Glass cage model at the research room

Greenhouse on future Mars

Ngoc Phuc