How will agriculture be progressively scaled up on Mars?
It'd be a shame to let all that Martian real estate to go to waste and only use bottled-up hydroponics.
Quote from: sanman on 10/18/2014 05:59 pmIt'd be a shame to let all that Martian real estate to go to waste and only use bottled-up hydroponics.That's akin to thinking it's a shame that there aren't lush corn fields in McMurdo Dry Valleys. How much nicer it would be to live in Antarctica if there were!?The real estate is useless to open field farming, in Martian case the entire planet. Tough but must deal with it.
McMurdo Dry Vallies could be made more fertile if there weren't legal treaties in the way, and if enough effort was put into it.
There are extensive greenhouses in Minnesota and Arizona for growing food hydroponically all year round. Could as well be at McMurdo.
Not without greenhouses packing a lot of heating and lighting. If you build those they will be the expensive premium real estate from which you want the best possible yields, meaning you end up with high-tech hydroponics.
Nah, we'll be doing hydroponics because pressurized volume is too expensive. Not big tractor things.I think we'll be getting 90% of our calories from vats or tubes, though. Scales much better on a place like Mars.
liquid medium like hydroponics does.
Is there any such thing as "gaseous hydroponics", even here on Earth?
Quote from: Robotbeat on 10/18/2014 05:48 pmNah, we'll be doing hydroponics because pressurized volume is too expensive. Not big tractor things.I think we'll be getting 90% of our calories from vats or tubes, though. Scales much better on a place like Mars.The future of fully synthetic food has been pitched since the 1950s and hasn't caught on for good reason.Food must be much more then simple nutrition NASA learned this early in the space program.It also must be enjoyable to eat as well as this is very important to the morale.Morale is every bit as important as basic nutrition in the long term as it effects health.Farming on Mars will likely involve lots of hydroponics or aeroponics early on along with aquaculture.Some examples of what a Mars food system may look like.The presence of plants and fish also will contribute to the habitat feeling like home vs sterile and foreboding.Some plants may even be there mostly for decorative purposes outside of making O2.Later on when there is use of Martian materials in building structures like large domes we may see more conventional looking farming practices and maybe even use of tractor like things working soil if that proves more cost effective.
On the extreme side however I wonder if we could grow plants that provide their own pressure hull. Something like a cactus with quite strong outer skin. You just need to get the water inside and have an unpressurized greenhouse covering the area to keep it warm. It may take some genetic engineering for such a plant to grow and produce useful biomass but we may be able to do it sooner or later.
Would it be fair to say that the equatorial regions of Mars would be the most suitable region for agricultural production to be set up?Or are there other regions more suitable based on other considerations (eg. availability of water)?