- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Out of This World Food? Crops Grown on 'Mars' Soil is Safe to Eat

© Facebook/Food for Mars and MoonCrops Grown on 'Mars' Soil Safe to Eat
Crops Grown on 'Mars' Soil Safe to Eat - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Scientists in the Netherlands have announced that yields from four crops grown in soil developed by NASA to imitate the dirt found on Mars are safe for human consumption.

NASA Recruiting Kids to Send to Mars - Sputnik International
Living on the Red Planet: NASA is Recruiting Kids for Mars Colonies
Researchers from the Wageningen University in the Netherlands have grown ten different crops, and have now determined that four of them — radishes, peas, rye, and tomatoes — are safe for human consumption. Further tests are still underway on the six other crops, which include potatoes.

On Thursday, the team announced that the first four harvests were found to contain “no dangerous levels” of heavy metals, and that the results are “very promising.” 

The results are good sign, but still require further scrutiny due to the high levels of metals such as cadmium, copper and lead that are found in the soil.

"These remarkable results are very promising," senior ecologist Wieger Wamelink told Phys.org. "We can actually eat the radishes, peas, rye and tomatoes, and I am very curious what they will taste like."

NASA logo. - Sputnik International
World
Say What? NASA Wants to Grow Human Body Parts on Mars
The research team has been experimenting using the soil since 2013, as it will be important to be able to produce crops, should humans migrate to the red planet.

"It's important to test as many crops as possible, to make sure that settlers on Mars have access to a broad variety of different food sources," said Wamelink.

The team has now begun crowdfunding a campaign to continue their work, and they have promised to invite their sponsors to the first dinner made with the “martian” food, if all crops are first deemed safe by the Dutch Food agency and US Food and Drug Administration standards.

“If we are certain it is safe to eat the potatoes, peas, carrots, garden cress, green beans, radish, rye and tomatoes then we will organize a meal for the sponsors of our research. They will be the first to eat the ‘Martian’ tomatoes and taste if they have a different flavour from the normal earth tomatoes,” the team wrote in a Facebook update.

NASA has asserted that they expect to send a manned mission to Mars within the next 10 to 15 years.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала