NASA Wants To Grow Potatoes on Mars, Conducts Experiments At Peru

In a move straight out of the plot from Hollywood blockbuster The Martian, NASA wants to cultivate potatoes on Mars someday in the future, according to a new report by Wall Street Journal. NASA, in collaboration with Lima's International Potato Center (CIP) researchers, is trying to figure out which type of potato will be most suited for future extraterrestrial farming by humans settled in Mars.

As per NASA's ongoing research, plans are already underway to colonize Mars in the future. Dutch nonprofit foundation, Mars One, wants to send humans on a one-way trip to the Red Planet in about a decade's time to establish a colony there. American aerospace company, SpaceX, has similar ideas, although it gave a warning about the inhospitable and hazardous conditions on the planet that would make the mission exceedingly difficult.

NASA confirmed the presence of water on MARS, after landing the Curiosity rover on the planet in 2012 as a part of its Mars Science Laboratory mission (MSL). The organization also recently announced its plans to land astronauts on the second smallest planet in the Solar System.  It is befitting then that NASA wants to look into the practicality and possibility of growing potatoes on Mars, as per the report.

Peru's Pampas de La Joya Desert, which is considered among the driest regions on earth, has been on the observation radar of NASA for a long time owing to its similarity with the conditions found on Mars. The desert's turf is thought to be comparable to Mars, and for this particular reason 1,300 pounds of its soil will be transported to Lima for growing potatoes. Researchers have selected around 65 varieties of the most resilient spuds for the experiment. If the potatoes grow successfully, a new batch will be planted in a simulator that replicates the atmospheric pressure on Mars.

"When humans go to Mars, they will want to grow things. They'll need food," said Chris McKay, planetary scientist NASA.  "I think we'll be able to find varieties of potatoes that will grow at cold and low-pressure conditions. That would be interesting to know for Mars applications."