Space - a huge expanse of nothingness, stretching out billions of light years in all directions. Suspended in the middle are planets and moons, many of which have been researched by humans. NTS NEWS feels it’s safe to say that the Moon has been thoroughly explored, examined and scrutinised many times. However, a mystery that still remains is a vermilion chunk of rock, better known as the Red Planet. The glorious sphere of rock that’s red because it’s enveloped in rust. Mars. Many experts have predicted that this planet could potentially sustain human life in the future, based on various studies that suggest life has previously existed on Mars.

Eager researchers have taken this sliver of possibility into account and started envisioning grand, opulent cities outside of Earth - to them, just leaving space alone is pointless. Building a new, intergalactic city is definitely ambitious and will be exceedingly difficult to carry out. Concerns include oxygen levels, construction expenses (which would be high due to material transportation costs), water, and of course, food.  The first two concerns can be solved - carbon dioxide (which Mars is rich with) can be converted into oxygen, and many of the materials found on Mars are sturdy enough to be used for construction. The water dilemma may also be solved, as robots that have scanned Mars’s terrain have discovered that the Red Planet’s crust may have small amounts of frozen water that could, after some filtration, be drinkable.

A problem that remains is food - for instance, SpaceX intends for over a million people to become Martian colonists, and constantly transporting food and drink over 140 million miles away on that scale would definitely prove to be difficult. To solve the hindrance that could stop people from moving to Mars, researchers have started looking into the potential for agriculture on the rocky planet.

Experts took inspiration from the food astronauts consumed on missions to Mars and the Moon, which mainly consisted of vegetables. This has sparked the interest of many researchers, who believe that growing various plants could be the main solution for food on Mars as they’re nutritional and filling.

Earlier, we mentioned Mars’s crust is rich with frozen water, but another thing that you’ll find in the mix is cyanobacteria.  Cyanobacteria is a very pesky substance on Earth, helping to dirty the once crystalline waters on our planet - on the Red Planet, however, it is extremely helpful. The bacteria will consume the carbon dioxide that’s floating in the Martian air, and will in turn produce molecules that are helpful for agriculture.

This potential vegan diet would likely put off a lot of people from living on Mars. No cheese, milk, authentic eggs, meat or even regular cake or ice cream! A vegan diet is a huge commitment - and for millions of people, much too far of a step - so space companies and food scientists together are searching for solutions. Many organisations have visions to create lab-grown meat on a large scale in order to cater for the future Martian residents’ desires. In the past few years, there have been whispers on how scientists could use animal cells to recreate the flavour and textural experience of eating meat.

This could be a good solution for the people who will live on Mars that generally choose the ‘meat lovers’ pizza when ordering food.

For additional protein, space companies have looked into the idea of building insect farms on Mars. The farms are very helpful as insects provide a large amount of calories and require minimal levels of food and water, so the farms wouldn’t deplete the city’s supply. Another thing insects need very little of is land, so space is not amongst the concerns. However, most people are disgusted by this idea, and whilst this has discouraged future insect farmers, the idea may still be an option.

Together, these factors fuse to create the ultimate, futuristic, sustainable and scalable solution. Mars is now just waiting for human life to come.

But.

Say the plants die due to a massive weather shift on Mars that’s never happened before? How will the one million Martian colonists survive? Or say some new bacteria form shows up and severely pollutes the water and endangers the lives of anybody who drinks it? Would the people who live on the Red Planet be rationed food? What effect would this have on the space environment? These concerns are being raised by worried experts and environmental conservationists, claiming that this could make our universe deteriorate further and also be extremely risky for the Martian residents.

Is modernising our world - or, in this case, our universe - really more important than all of the other factors involved? Like life?

Thank you for reading this article - if you have strong opinions on the matter, don’t hesitate to vote on our poll bar OR comment in our thread area!

Research sources: University of Greenwich, Forbes, Space.com, Space Ambition, Hsrassociates, Astronomy.com, BBC, For Goodness Seyks, CNET, Live Science

Image sources: Twentieth Fox Film Corp., Getty Images, Alarmy Stock Photos,