Matt Damon Made It Look Easy! Why Farming on Mars Might Be a Little Tricky

Recreating Martian soil has revealed yet another hurdle for life on Mars.

Transcript

00:00The 2015 film The Martian shows a desperate yet optimistic McDamon growing potatoes on Mars.

00:07But while his endeavors were ultimately successful,

00:10scientists are now saying that growing food on Mars may be much harder than previously thought.

00:16Ah, f*** you, Mars.

00:18Researchers were able to synthesize to a degree Martian dirt and planted a couple of different

00:22plants in it, finding that those that were planted in the synthetic dirt that most closely

00:26matched the chemical makeup of Martian soil wouldn't grow.

00:28Even when given ample fertilizer and controlled light.

00:31Developer of the synthetic Martian dirt, planetary scientist Kevin Cannon said about the experiment,

00:36it's not surprising at all that as you get dirt that's more and more accurate, closer to Mars,

00:40that it gets harder and harder for plants to grow in it.

00:42That's because unlike on Earth where all manner of microbial life helps plants flourish,

00:46on Mars the soil is mostly crushed rock.

00:49But that's not all.

00:49Martian dirt also has a higher pH than that of Earth,

00:52and a toxic salt called calcium perchlorate that is found on around 2% of the Martian surface.

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