(NC)-Among the many challenges that face humanity’s ability to travel to Mars, the issue of life support ranks at or near the top. It should come as no surprise then that this challenge is at the heart of research being conducted by some of the world’s top scientists, including those in Canada. They are currently investigating options that would provide astronauts with the self-contained life support system required to voyage to the red planet.

One of the most obvious options is to use plants, which provide food; water and oxygen, while at the same time recycle carbon dioxide and waste. Unfortunately, the answer is not that simple. Scientists must still wrestle with the questions of which types of seeds are best suited for space missions and whether the environments of both space and Mars will effect the ability of the seeds to germinate.

In an effort to get Canadian students to contribute at their level answer these questions, and to help determine whether or not tomatoes could be the ideal Martian crop, the Canadian Space Agency has been collaborating with the University of Guelph, Agriculture and Agro-Food Canada, the Ontario Centres of Excellence, Heinz Canada and Stokes Seeds on the Tomatosphere Project.

Each year, students are provided with sets of tomato seeds that have been exposed to different space or space-simulated environments as well as a control group of seeds. These students become space-farmers, conducting experiments in their classrooms that teach them about the complexity of horticulture, inspire innovative thinking about food production off-planet and build their scientific skills set as they prepare to become Canada’s first generation of planetary explorers.

Over the next three years, Canadian students will continue to provide scientists with data related to the possibility of growing tomatoes in space, and perhaps determine whether red ketchup should become the official condiment of the red planet.

Canadian educators are encouraged to visit the Tomatosphere website at http://www.tomatosphere.org/ to register their class for the project and to access all of the educator guides that contain the curriculum-relevant content.

Credit: www.newscanada.com

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