Nothing can grow on Mars.https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Vladimir_Pletser/publication/312030888_Growing_Vegetables_on_Mars_For_Human_Consumption_or_To_Ease_Psychological_Tension_Simulation_at_the_Mars_Desert_Research_Station/links/586b099908ae6eb871ba8c30/Growing-Vegetables-on-Mars-For-Human-Consumption-or-To-Ease-Psychological-Tension-Simulation-at-the-Mars-Desert-Research-Station.pdfThis is what they ate:
Like Termi said earlier, people will likely commit suicide from this sort of food day in day out.
CONCLUSIONS
The opportunity of a Mars simulation campaign was taken to perform preliminary studies of
potential impact of vegetables cultures on crew psychology. During 12 days, six
crewmembers have cultivated four crops from seeds to edible biomass. These cultures were
performed in two separated locations: the habitation module and the external greenhouse.
This last one could only be accessed under EVA conditions.
The crew members were asked to observe and comment on the germination and growth
processes, on the vegetable taste and on their feelings about eating this home grown
production. Comments included respect for other life forms in a lifeless environment,
reminiscence of past days, competition between species, and regrets after harvesting. Cycles
of two to three days were observed in the comment number and duration.
Although this limited experience cannot be statistically representative, a few remarks have
been noted. First, the preparation and the consumption phases seem to be the most attractive
for the crew. Second, the difficulty of EVA outings seems to counterbalance the interest of
the crew for these cultures. Third, the social event associated to the consumption of the
produced food was very well perceived. Fourth, radishes, as already pointed out in previous
studies, reach a high level of appreciation.
With this preliminary collection of psychological data, the authors have no will to raise any
definitive scientific conclusion. It is well known that nutrition quality has a strong impact on
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the crew psychology, and it was not possible during this study to separate the attraction of the
growth phase from the consumption phase (i.e. consumption of fresh products).
All preparation studies for Mars mission demonstrate that food production will be mandatory.
Consequently, benefit shall be taken to enhance the synergies between purely life support
investigations and crew psychology studies.
