Students aiming to put the first life on Mars

Students are aiming to put the first life on Mars, according to their plan to grow lettuce on the Red planet.

The aim of the students from the University of Southampton project, is to send a small greenhouse to Mars in which lettuce will be grown using the atmosphere and sunlight on Mars.

They plan to build a small rocket. Currently they have designed the engine and are getting it ready for manufacture and testing.

Project leader Suzanna Lucarotti, says:

“To live on other planets we need to grow food there. No-one has ever actually done this and we intend to be the first. This plan is both technically feasible and incredibly ambitious in its scope, for we will be bringing the first complex life to another planet. Growing plants on other planets is something that needs to be done, and will lead to a wealth of research and industrial opportunities that our plan aims to bring to the University of Southampton.

We have tackled diverse sets of engineering challenges, including aeroponic systems, bio filters, low power gas pressurisation systems and failsafe planetary protection systems and then integrated them all into one payload on a tight mass, power and cost budget. We can build this here and now, the only step now is to win the public vote.”