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The idea of colonizing Mars left the sphere of speculation a long time ago, and it is making great strides towards a reality. In fact, scientists are now at the stage of developing ways to make a colony of Mars self-sufficient. According to a recent study, this self-sufficiency will depend on insects and high-calorie crops grown in tunnels.
Food, it seems, will be the biggest challenge, according to planetary scientist Kevin Cannon, who told Space.com the work he and his colleagues at the University of Central Florida have done on the colonization of Mars.
The idea of colonizing Mars is centered on making this colony self-sufficient rather than relying on imports. Although energy can be obtained locally – by using solar installations and nuclear reactors, apparently, it would be more difficult to produce food locally. Fortunately for future Mars settlers, the technology has evolved enough to make lab-grown meat a possibility. Fortunately, insects will also have to be part of the menu.
"Bugs are the answer, if people can overcome the factor," Cannon told Space.com. According to the researchers, insects offer a very interesting relationship between the amount of calories they can offer and the amount of water and food they need. That's why the team has included cricket farms in its one-million-strong Mars Autonomous Settlement model.
In addition to the tiny packets of six-legged calories, the Cannon team also took into account the proteins grown in the laboratory: from chicken meat to fish, to algae, it is now possible to grow in the laboratory and this is not so expensive anymore In just two years, the cost of a hamburger pie has grown from over $ 300,000 to just $ 11 thanks to generous investments in this particular technology for the manufacture of meat substitutes. Related: This "solar panel" could generate darkness energy
Why not just carry farm animals and keep them for milk, dairy products and meat? Because transportation itself would be a challenge, and feeding them on Mars would be another challenge, according to Cannon. The soil of Mars is not similar to that of the Earth. That is why even plants intended for humans may need to grow in tunnels rather than in greenhouses outside.
"If you want to feed a large population on another planet, you have to give up the idea of watery vegetables and think about the huge amounts of energy, water and raw materials needed to produce enough calories. ", said Cannon at Space.com. Noting that most research on Martian colonies has focused on food for astronauts, but has underestimated the amount of space, water and sunlight many plants need.
The team estimated that with cricket farms and some 9,000 km of tunnels for growing vegetables, a colony of one million people could achieve self-sufficiency in a century. Although this is happening, we would have to import a lot of food from the Earth, which would increase the total cost of colonizing the red planet. In the meantime, most Martian settlers would need to defeat the common human aversion to eating insects. Laboratory hamburgers would definitely help.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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