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LOGAN — A group of researchers at Utah State University has been experimenting with farming methods to help NASA learn how to survive on Mars.
Professor Bruce Bugbee and doctoral candidate Noah Langenfeld are part of the group conducting this research in a greenhouse that allows each element to be controlled.
"They can't waste anything," Bugbee said. "Every speck, every drop of water has to be recycled."
In this greenhouse, they are meticulous about every drop of water while growing lettuce while wasting very little.
"We've gone up to two years, over 700 days, with plants in the same exact nutrient solution," Langenfeld said. "We just fill them up every couple days, top off what's used by the plants."
Realistically, farming on Mars would most likely happen underground. Theoretically, crops will be safe from the dangers of radiation and meteorites.
This is why the lab has areas to see how they can grow corn under artificial light from LEDs.
"The central question is how small and how efficient can we make this and still have it be stable?" Bugbee said. "If it's too small, it'll become unstable. Something goes out of whack, everyone dies."
In another lab, they can control everything down to the gas composition inside.
"Here on Earth, we end up wasting a lot of nitrogen," Langenfeld said. "About half of the nitrogen for agriculture ends up getting lost, either as a gas, or it leaches out and ends up becoming an environmental pollutant."
All of these efforts are working to help answer the future question of survivability on Mars.
"Not only do we kind of get to help humanity kind of reach for those new frontiers, but all this research is really still applicable to the agriculture that we do on Earth," Langenfeld said.
USU researchers are working along with four other universities to help NASA learn how to survive on Mars. The space agency also just recognized all of them for their efforts with their group achievement award.
