What does growing potatoes on Mars mean for Earth’s farmers? In the movie The Martian, Matt Damon plays a stranded astronaut who has to grow his own food on the red planet. (Giles Keyte/Twentieth Century Fox/Thinkstock)
What does growing potatoes on Mars mean for Earth’s farmers?

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Matt Damon made it look easy in the Hollywood movie about Mars. But Mars and Earth aren't really all that different after all.

In the movie "The Martian", Matt Damon plays Mark Watney. He's a brainy botanist. He coaxes spuds to sprout in otherwise lifeless dirt.

As the population rises here on Earth, there are plenty of harsh, foodless environments. The environments could be improved with a little ingenuity. 

The plot is rooted in plausible science. Much of what Damon's character did to create a makeshift greenhouse is applicable here.

The film's release dovetails with the United Nation's International Year of Soils. The film raises awareness that soil, like water, is a limited resource. That's according to Harold van Es. He's a soil scientist at Cornell University.

Soil is created when glaciers, wind or other elements slowly transform rock materials. They turn it into something softer and more fertile. Scientists say it can take 200 to 400 years to form one centimeter of new soil. Meanwhile, human actions have an effect. They are causing soil erosion and degradation at alarming rates. These include slash-and-burn agriculture, deforestation and global warming. Also, arable soil gets lost to pollution.

"Going to Mars is a very interesting prospect.  But ultimately that will be very difficult," van Es says. "We need to learn to live with larger numbers of people on this planet."

The movie shows Watney taming inhospitable Martian soils. First, he creates water from rocket fuel. This is perfectly reasonable science. That's according to Jim Bell. He's a planetary scientist from Arizona State University. He is an expert on Martian dirt. That water comes in handy for rehydrating freeze-dried human feces. Watney uses it as fertilizer. 

Poop isn't that far fetched as a soil change on Earth. It's happing in Washington, D.C. The city is among a growing number of places turning what's flushed down toilets into compost. The city's garden plots are already using that nitrogen-rich compost. It is used to improve depleted urban soils. It can grow a mean tomato.

One of van Es' students is also using treated toilet materials to grow food.  He is using it in Nairobi, Kenya. There, a legacy of growing maize has depleted the soils over time. First it is charred to stabilize it. Then it can infuse nitrogen. This puts necessary minerals back into the soil.

Watney had to conserve every drop of water he created on Mars. He even used a futuristic water reclaimer. It is similar to what real-life astronauts use. They use it on the International Space Station to recycle their wastewater.

We also do this to some extent on Earth. It is called "gray water." Gray water washes down bathroom sinks. Then it is recycled to water golf courses. It also keeps machinery from overheating. As drought stretches on in much of the American West, gray water isn't just recycled for irrigation but is increasingly being marketed as drinking water as well. It is used after treatment steps that include filtering and UV exposure are taken.

There is one issue "The Martian" didn't address. That issue is that on the real Mars there are contaminants. In 1999, NASA's Phoenix lander discovered a nasty material called perchlorate in Mars soil. It is "very harmful to life as we know it," Bell says.

Back on Earth, farmers in some areas have already had to deal with potentially dangerous pollution. Many urban soils contain traces of their industrial pasts. This can be in the form of lingering lead or arsenic. The most common solution involves piling untainted soil on top or into growing containers.

But closed-loop systems show great potential for working around poor soils or actually improving them. This includes hydroponics that grow fish and plants in symbiosis. Another way is to rotate crops. This can infuse nutrients back into the soil.

Scientists are also learning how to grow crops in the radioactive environments associated with planets that lack Earth's atmospheric protection. Nuclear power plant accidents have provided new information. They have given researchers the chance to discover crops that thrive in radioactive soils. Oil-rich flax plants, for example, flourished near Russia's Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

But the best path to a flourishing future food supply is to not waste the resources we have in the first place.

"The movie brings out the idea that human life really depends on our ability to produce food," says van Es. "We take that for granted."

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How are Mars and Earth similar?
Write your answers in the comments section below

  • julianf-612-
    4/07/2016 - 02:15 p.m.

    Earth and mars are alike because both have water on them and they also both have soil on them

  • elijahb-612-
    4/08/2016 - 02:25 p.m.

    In both places you can plant things.

  • geliciab-612-
    4/15/2016 - 08:39 a.m.

    Mars, and Earth are similar, because Mars might have life on its planet, but its not proven yet, and Earth also had life on its planet. Then it also says there might be fertile soil on Mars, and planet Earth has fertile soil which helps plants grow. Both planet are similar, and it would be awesome if we have another planet that has life on it.

  • emmao-612-
    4/15/2016 - 08:46 a.m.

    Mars and Earth are similar because, Mars soil is fertile. Also We are trying to see if Mars as live form on it like Earth.

  • princessm-612-
    4/21/2016 - 10:16 a.m.

    Mars and Earth are similar because they both have Soil.

  • wesleyf-612-
    4/21/2016 - 02:31 p.m.

    Mars and Earth is similar because they both can grow plants and they both have soil.

  • tanorit-612-
    4/26/2016 - 02:19 p.m.

    I didnt know that space could have plants.

  • skylarm-612-
    4/26/2016 - 04:51 p.m.

    Earth and mars are alike because they both have soil and water on them.

  • marybellg-612-
    4/27/2016 - 01:51 p.m.

    Mars And Earth Are Both Similar Because They Both Have Fertile Soil In Them. And In Earth Fertile Soil Is Really Important To Us Because It Helps Us Grow Plants.

  • erict-612-
    4/27/2016 - 02:12 p.m.

    The way that Mars and Earth are similar is they both have soil and water on them.

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