Good news for kids around the world! Researchers at Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands have determined that it is possible to grow food on Mars except for spinach. Of course, Matt Damon was the first to demonstrate this finding. Unfortunately, the selection thus far is not what many of us would prefer: garden cress, rocket, tomato, radish, rye, quinoa, chives, peas and leek. Only spinach failed to grow.
The article, “Crop Growth and Viability of Seeds on Mars and Moon Soil Simulants“, was published in De Gruyter’s open access journal, Open Agriculture.
The same success applied to Lunar soil so that human bases on either Mars or the Moon could grow sustaining crops.
Personally, as an Italian-American, I cannot wait for Martian Marinara.