Food grows better on the moon than on Mars, scientists find

[Admin]

Scientists expect the moon to have better soil for growing food than the red planet

Food grows better on the moon than on Mars, scientists find : Read more

 

[Galacsi]

This is a very bad post. Written by somebody that does not know anything in agriculture, and on the subject. A very shallow piece.

 

[contrarian]

The whole idea of human settlements on the Moon or Mars is remarkably stupid. The cost for getting things up and running are, to say the least, astronomical.

Trillions of dollars to be spent so humans might find another place to survive? This is the definition of absurdity, in the extreme. We need to spend all that money remediating Earth's problems, which is the only chance for human survival. Things would not look so gloomy if we focused on rational solutions.

But there is still the problem of too many humans on too small a planet. There are a lot of problems, with few solutions being offered.

 

[motie]

Whenever you see a picture of a greenhouse on Mars or the Moon, just smile and ignore it. It's just eye candy for the masses. Greenhouses are difficult to manage ON EARTH, for crying out loud. I contend that the best place to grow plants on Mars or the Moon is underground. You've got a fairly even temperature, no harmful radiation, and no need for a structure that can resist vacuum. From a strictly return-on-investment point of view, my guess is that you can't beat getting your food from Earth.

 

[Gibsense]

Scientists expect the moon to have better soil for growing food than the red planet

Contrary to other posters previously I thought the article quite inspiring. 1 billion dollars(?) per year is peanuts to have a bolthole
The usual cry "oh look at all the problems on Earth the money is better spent there". Nonsense, would you really spend money on a dying planet where nobody has a clue how to stop the inevitable decline except nuclear war to reduce the population?
On a more positive note such a project might help focus human populations on a common objective.

It would probably involve human genetic engineering to achieve a more compatible population. When accomplished we would be able to enact H G Wells's fiction as a prophesy and sort a few things out!

 

[contrarian]

1 billion dollars(?) per year is peanuts to have a bolthole

Not quite a bolthole. Not even close actually. And warming Mars is very hypothetical.

It doesn't address the extreme cost of getting all the hardware, food, people, etc. etc. from Earth to Mars. The real problem : you are millions of miles and months away from the home planet that has what you might need very badly. Major add-on costs for rescue mission(s).

A certain reliance on many supply trips back and forth is too costly, unless Musk is going to donate all his efforts and money. He wants to occupy Mars. Let us all hope he leads the first mission, on board that is.

We shall see what a real leader he is then.

 

[Unclear Engineer]

The idea that there will be greenhouses on the lunar surface is missing a lot of concepts. Some have been mentioned in earlier comments. But, I have not seen anybody mention that the lunar night is 2 weeks long, and so is a lunar day. Plants on Earth are evolved for a much shorter day/night cycle. And, the Moon gets extremely cold at night. So, lunar agriculture is probably going to need a lot of insulation and artificial illumination. And, that is best achieved underground, which also would provide radiation and meteorite protection.