Green Plants for Mars Mission

An anonymous reader writes "NASA doesn't keep back that they are going to send a human expedition to Mars in a couple of decades. One of the obstacles for the longstanding 35-million-mile voyage is a food production. NASA researchers have focused on 20 plant species that NASA believes could be grown during a flight to Mars and after landing on the fourth planet from the Sun. By far not all of them are suitable for space expedition."

Comments

Re:Where's the device that speeds and slows the

[chris mazuc]

Actually, smoking in such a limited atmosphere might overload the air handlers. Brownies would probably be a much better idea.

the list

[r00t]

zucchini
garlic
kudzu
black beans
trumpet vine
sweet potato
bamboo
red beans
spider plant
black-eye beans
redwood
dill
onion
mustard
catnip
fava beans
stinging nettle
cabbage
thistle
dandilion

Re:the list

[gobbo]

If that list is bona fide, I'm surprised soy beans aren't on it.

I'm not. Fava is also a short bushing bean--so it fits the same stacking profile for access to light--and just as versatile with less processing required. Soy is good for large harvesting machines, which has something to do with its ubiquity--it's tied to a large industrial system. Simply boiled fava beans taste better than soy prepared the same way. They have similar nutritious characteristics. Less processing=better nutrition, better energy consumption. Give me a fava plant in the garden over soy any day.