Posted on 04/22/2025 1:48:27 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Don’t slam the drawer shut so hard.
Did they forget about the space insects?
...To boldly grow where no man has grown before???
...To boldly grow where no man has grown before???
Mars has the Sun, a CO2 atmosphere (And what s the "by product of all plant life ?)
I don't know why they're using the word "lab" in this report
He was supposed to.
😁
You need fully enclosed greenhouses with at least 5 times Mars surface pressure. Plants also need O2 plus CO2 and nitrogen too.
“The Martian Atmosphere
The atmospheric pressure on Earth is typically about 100kPa (kilopascals). On Mars it is less than 1kPa; far too low for either plants or humans. Plants can survive with a mere 5 kPa atmosphere, 2kPa nitrogen, 2kPa oxygen, 0.6kPa water vapor, and less than 0.1kPa carbon dioxide and the remainder a mixture of gases such as argon and nitrogen; whereas, humans prefer at least 20kPa of oxygen and 10kpa nitrogen (as a buffer) to work and breathe comfortably (about 30kPa). In a Martian greenhouse, astronauts will have to wear a space suit.”
https://www.firsttheseedfoundation.org/resource/mars-weather-agriculture-greenhouses/
THIS is why they use the word "lab"
You are missing the point entirely. Plants on Earth at 1000 watts per square meter of solar insolation only convert 1% or less to total plant biomass. 1% is for the very top end CAM and C4 plants, C3 plants are half that. That 1% max is total plant mass not just the corn kernels or the wheat grain. The actual part we eat is fractions of fractions of a percent of the original solar energy. Then realise that cattle take 10:1 corn to live weight or 100:1 with cellulose and hemicellulose feeds. Live weight at 1800lb steer is 450-500 in primal meat cuts. No way no how are you ever taking and raising cattle in space. Chickens are 2-3:1 from grains and soybeans, pigs are 4:1 plus all the water and O2 requirements and waste management issues.
Then remember Mars has a lot less sunlight as photon density falls at the fourth power of distance. Mars receives about 43% of the solar energy that Earth receives. The maximum solar irradiance on Mars is around 590 W/m². This alone means plants will have much lower yields your 1% get a cut in half just by loss of solar photon ddensity.
Boffins has already taken electricity water and CO2 and made acetic acid with it at nearly 100% efficiency the term is Faraday efficiency they hit 90% which means 9 of 10 electrons worth of energy ended up in the final product not side reactions or side products. Why is acetic acid so important? It is the base electron receptor for the ATP cycle at it lower end being the simplest fatty acid. Virtually every type of bacteria,yeast and a slew of plant and animal cells can eat acetate and use it for not only it’s carbon source but also it’s cellular energy source. With CRISPR tech you can add the genes needed for any cell to have the acetate metabolism pathways.
Solar panels are 25-40% efficient in turning solar photons inot electrons. It should be immediately clear how with a process that takes 9 of 10 of those electrons and makes the base ingrudent for cell growth how significant that breakthrough is. You just make a factor of 25 to 40 more energy capture in your desired product aka food.
Bacteria can eat acetate and turn it into single cell complete protein in a near one to one ratio of input mass to output mass with 60% of the total mass being compete protein the rest is lipids and carbohydrates also food ingredients. This is why they say “lab” you grow the SCP in tanks, along with other tanks of starch selective single cell microbes feeding off the same acetate base molecule. Every monogastric needs in this order carbohydrates, protein,lipids, vitamins(A,B6,B12 etc..),minerals to survive. The tanks provide the first 3 and you use inorganics for the minerals just like animal feeds or pet food.
With growth serum and biopsy cell lines you could use electro acetate and make a synthetic blood serum in tanks then feed that to tanks with the biopsy cell lines in them growing those cells into their corresponding adult forms of protein and lipids. Cellular culture would approach 1:1 ratios allowing you to have something chemically identical and DNA identical to animal protein but at 100 times the density of production without all the losses of raising a whole animal to just go after the meat. No huge waste management issues, much lower O2 demands you only need enough O2 for the cells to respire and grow.
The simple truth is space food is going to be tank based food. A lot of earth based food in a 8+ billion people world that demands protein consumption is also going to be tank food like it or not the price will determine what people can afford to eat. When lab chicken breast is $2 and the real thing is $10 people will follow their wallets regardless of the internet ranting people do what’s best for their financal survival or they chose to use disposable iincome to go to a high price point for a WANT not a NEED.
At 77, it's not my problem . . . .just my thought.
But seriously . . . . thanx.
Mohammed?🤔
I am a planetary scientist in multiple disciples and young enough that if Elon gets us to Mars I could physically make the trip and would be a valuable member of any team sent with the hydro,geochem,geology, and biology alone. My wife knows Elon personally she has his personal cellphone number multiple times as it changes. If he sends people in the next ten years I will ask to go in a scientist’s role one way, I am fine dying on Mars.
Then . . . . . my basic comment is OK as far as it goes, but is only JUST a beginning.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.