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EI2GYB > ASTRO 24.08.21 12:20l 78 Lines 4555 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 13543_EI2GYB
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Subj: Why cosmic radiation could foil plans for farming on Mars
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Sent: 210824/1116Z 13543@EI2GYB.DGL.IRL.EURO BPQK6.0.16
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Why cosmic radiation could foil plans for farming on Mars
hat would it take for humans to live on Mars? The first step is to
uccessfully get people to the red planet, of course. Once there,
he astronauts would face a task that could be even more difficult:
iguring out how to survive in an environment that is vastly
ifferent from Earth's. A new study demonstrates one of the challenges
-- Earth's plants donâ€Öt grow as well when exposed to the level of
adiation expected on Mars.
Wieger Wamelink, an ecologist at Wageningen University in the
etherlands who describes himself as a space farmer, has been
rustrated by sci-fi depictions of growing plants on Mars. "What you
ften see is that they do it in a greenhouse," he said, "but that
oesn't block the cosmic radiation," which consists of high-energy
particles that may alter the plants' DNA. Mars lacks the same degree
f protection from cosmic radiation that the Earth's atmosphere and
agnetic field provide. To prove his suspicion that cosmic radiation
ould be dangerous to plants, Wamelink decided to test the
ypothesis himself.
First, Wamelink and his team had to recreate the cosmic radiation.
he team settled on using gamma rays generated by radioactive cobalt,
ven though the actual cosmic radiation that bombards Mars' surface
onsists of various types of radiation, including alpha and beta
articles. But, generating alpha and beta rays on Earth is much
ore difficult, Wamelink said. It would require a particle accelerator,
hich Wamelink would love to use, "but I would have to put some plants
n the collider for, let's say, two or three months." Considering the
high demand for the equipment, "I think it's not ever going to
happen," he said.
Once Wamelink and his team secured radioactive cobalt, the team grew
ye and garden cress in two groups: one with typical growing conditions
nd the other had similar conditions but added gamma radiation. Four
eeks after germination, the scientists compared the two groups and
aw that the leaves of the group exposed to gamma rays had abnormal
hapes and colors. The weights of the plants also differed; the rye
lants in the gamma-ray group weighed 48% less than the regular group,
nd the weight of the garden cress exposed to gamma rays was 32% lower
han their unblasted counterparts. Wamelink suspects the weight
ifference is due to the gamma rays damaging the plants' proteins
nd DNA. The results were published in the journal Frontiers in
stronomy and Space Sciences this month.
Michael Dixon, who studies agriculture at the University of Guelph
n Canada and wasn't involved in the study, said this research did
reasonable job replicating the cosmic radiation considering that
t's impossible to copy it perfectly. Ultimately, researchers would
eed to study plants on the Martian surface to get a full understanding
f the impacts.
Dixon is a part of a team that's planning to attempt to grow barley
n the Moon, which should happen in the next ten years, he said.
ne of the first questions that Dixon and his co-workers plan to
tudy is whether or not plants can survive the exposure to lunar
adiation.
Wamelink said space agencies should step up their research into crops
o improve the quality of the food that astronauts eat.
People at ISS [International Space Station] still eat astronaut food.
nd that's not very nice," Wamelink said. "I don't know if you ever
asted it, but, well, you don't get happy from it."
Researching space farming and food production is "way more important
han some people think," he said. "Radiation is a problem, but it's
olvable, I think."
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