FARMING IN SPACE
As NASA plans for its first manned mission to Mars in the mid-2030s, the humans who will inhabit the planet may not be considered astronauts but farmers. “The round trip to Mars generally takes about four and one-half years if you add in six months on the surface,” says Bruce Bugbee, a botanist at Utah State University. “Theoretically, it’s possible to bring four years’ worth of bag lunches, but that would be super expensive.” It’s also risky to rely on a lightweight resupply rocket, because it can take up to 210 days to arrive. “To be efficient, inhabitants need to eat local, which means we need to find a way to produce food on Mars from recycled wastes,” he explains. “If we can’t, we are not going to be able to live on the Red Planet.” DEALING WITH A DIFFERENT ECOSYSTEM For over 30 years, Bugbee has been collaborating with NASA to develop closed systems for growing plants aboard space shuttles and on the International Space Station. Today, there are small, eng...