Crop Growth and Viability of Seeds on Mars and Moon Soil Simulants

Wamelink, G.W.W.; Frissel, J.Y.; Krijnen, W.H.J.; Verwoert, M.R.

doi:10.1002/9781119761990.ch13

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…A map of the perfect locations displaying the various potentials for crop harvesting is one of the things that are considered. The color viewpoint is shown in Figure 2b, where blue colors represent high potentials, with the deepest blue being the best locations, and red hues represent less excellent sites, with dark red representing the worst [23].…”

Section: Site Selection Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Dvaraka Initiative: Mars’s First Permanent Human Settlement Capable of Self-Sustenance

et al. 2023

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From the farthest reaches of the universe to our own galaxy, there are many different celestial bodies that, even though they are very different, each have their own way of being beautiful. Earth, the planet with the best location, has been home to people for as long as we can remember. Even though we cannot be more thankful for all that Earth has given us, the human population needs to grow so that Earth is not the only place where people can live. Mars, which is right next to Earth, is the answer to this problem. Mars is the closest planet and might be able to support human life because it is close to Earth and shares many things in common. This paper will talk about how the first settlement on Mars could be planned and consider a 1000-person colony and the best place to settle on Mars, and make suggestions for the settlement’s technical, architectural, social, and economic layout. By putting together assumptions, research, and estimates, the first settlement project proposed in this paper will suggest the best way to colonize, explore, and live on Mars, which is our sister planet.

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Section: Site Selection Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Dvaraka Initiative: Mars’s First Permanent Human Settlement Capable of Self-Sustenance

et al. 2023

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“…One of the main mechanisms to minimise biotic stress is the cultivation in a closed system, which is a doubly closed one, since a "space greenhouse" will be part of a space station or lunar/ Martian habitat (Kiss, 2014;Wamelink et al, 2021). Yet, that strategy bears both danger and opportunity.…”

Section: Biotic Stressmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eustress in Space: Opportunities for Plant Stressors Beyond the Earth Ecosystem

Hessel

Liang

Tran

et al. 2022

Front. Astron. Space Sci.

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Human space exploration cannot occur without reliable provision of nutritious and palatable food to sustain physical and mental well-being. This ultimately will depend upon efficient production of food in space, with on-site manufacturing on space stations or the future human colonies on celestial bodies. Extraterrestrial environments are by their nature foreign, and exposure to various kinds of plant stressors likely cannot be avoided. But this also offers opportunities to rethink food production as a whole. We are used to the boundaries of the Earth ecosystem such as its standard temperature range, oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations, plus diel cycles of light, and we are unfamiliar with liberating ourselves from those boundaries. However, space research, performed both in true outer space and with mimicked space conditions on Earth, can help explore plant growth from its ‘first principles’. In this sense, this perspective paper aims to highlight fundamental opportunities for plant growth in space, with a new perspective on the subject. Conditions in space are evidently demanding for plant growth, and this produces “stress”. Yet, this stress can be seen as positive or negative. With the positive view, we discuss whether plant production systems could proactively leverage stresses instead of always combatting against them. With an engineering view, we focus, in particular, on the opportunities associated with radiation exposure (visible light, UV, gamma, cosmic). Rather than adapting Earth conditions into space, we advocate on rethinking the whole issue; we propose there are opportunities to exploit space conditions, commonly seen as threats, to benefit space farming.

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“…This involves incorporating stable organic amendments to improve the structural properties of the regolith and introduce a microbiome. Studies using mixtures of compost and regolith simulant showed that amendments can improve Martian and Lunar regoliths as a plant growth medium by improving nutrient availability and hydraulic properties [10][11][12]. Studies using both Martian and Lunar regolith, in comparison to Earth soils, show that germination rates are highest in Martian soil simulant and lowest in Lunar regolith simulant, which may be attributed to the larger water holding capacity of Martian soil simulant in comparison to LRS [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From dust to seed: a lunar chickpea story

Atkin,

Santos

2024

Preprint

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Food sustainability is one of the most significant barriers to long-term space travel. Providing resources from Earth is not cost-efficient, and resupply missions are not viable to meet the needs of long-term life in deep space conditions. Plants in space can provide a source of nutrition and oxygen, reducing the reliance on packaged foods, reducing resupply needs, and extending the duration of missions. Using lunar regolith simulant, we employ a novel methodology to create a sustainable and productive growth medium to support the cultivation of horticultural crops on the Moon. Implementing microbial soil regeneration mechanisms derived from Earth, we leverage the interaction between Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) and Vermicompost (VC) to create a fertile LRS matrix. These amendments can sequester toxic contaminants, improve soil structure, and increase plant stress tolerance. We demonstrate the ability to produce chickpea (Cicer arietinum) in lunar regolith simulant augmented with AMF and VC under climate-controlled conditions. We cultivated chickpea to seed in a mixture containing 75% Lunar Regolith Simulant. Preliminary results suggest that higher LRS contents induce heightened stress responses. However, plants grown in 100% LRS inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi demonstrated an average two-week survival extension compared to non-inoculated plants. This study provides, for the first time, a baseline for chickpea germination in varying mixtures of LRS and VC and will inform future studies as humanity goes back to the Moon.

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Crop Growth and Viability of Seeds on Mars and Moon Soil Simulants

Cited by 8 publications

References 19 publications

The Dvaraka Initiative: Mars’s First Permanent Human Settlement Capable of Self-Sustenance

The Dvaraka Initiative: Mars’s First Permanent Human Settlement Capable of Self-Sustenance

Eustress in Space: Opportunities for Plant Stressors Beyond the Earth Ecosystem

From dust to seed: a lunar chickpea story

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