A US scientist is attempting to grow asparagus in meteorites to prepare humans for space farming.
If humans have space colonies, transporting food from the Earth will not be realistic. However, asteroids and meteorites often contain phosphate, nitrates, and even water that plants can feed on.
Michael Mautner, a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher, believes it is not outside the realm of possibility to directly grow certain plants on other planets, in a protected environment. “People have been talking about terraforming, but what I’m trying to do is give some concrete evidence that it’s possible to do this, that it’s possible to grow in extraterrestrial materials,” said Mr. Mautner
Terraforming is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, or ecology of a planet, Moon, or other body to be similar to those of Earth in order to make it habitable by humans.
