Growing Food on Mars

Explore How Regolith—the Ground Cover of Mars—Can be Used to Grow Food

To be able to live on Mars, humans need breathable air, clean water, and nutritious food. A manned trip to Mars would require food that was either successfully grown in space or on Mars. In this course, students will explore how regolith—the ground cover of Mars—can be used to grow food. Students will design food experiments on Mars regolith incorporating hydroponics, which is growing edible plants in water instead of soil. In addition, students will use the scientific method to describe their experiments and present their results upon completion.

What You Will Learn

Humans need breathable air, clean water, and nutritious food. Learn how regolith can be relied upon to grow food to help humans live on Mars.

• Investigate the soil on Mars as it pertains to growing food
• Design experiments using the scientific method
• Experiment on regolith to determine if food can be grown safely