Mars one is a mars colonization program scheduled to begin launching around 2020. crop production on mars will be a critical technical achievement for the success of this mission. phytoremediation of martian soil for crop production is an important tool for mission success. Chlorella vannielii is a candidate for Hyperaccumulation for Beryllium. Beryllium is toxic to humans and animals.
Dear Omar Marchant,
This is a very interesting question. We must indeed start to think about this kind of problem. However more critical problems are water, high salinity (presummably) and free radical. So therefore, beryllium might be a minor problem. Actually, even though I am working with phytoremediation and I do believe that phytoremediation is an excellent tools to remediate contaminated soil. I think a mechanical/chemical process will be more efficient to process martian soil into fertile soil.
Best regards
Geoffrey Marchal
salaam dear respected researcher thank you for responding to my question. in answer to your concern for water, high salinity and free radicals, please allow me to say that these and other soil chemistry problems notably chlorides will need to be solved to make mars a viable place for life to thrive. I see that you have studied environmental science for some time. the scale of proposed colonies will dramatically affect the ideal format of solutions to these concerns. the smaller the party the more mechanical/chemical process will be best. if however larger colonies are present phytoremediation, hydroponic mining, production of Bioproducts, such as, Biopolymers, Biofuels, fiber, waxes, oils, resins, and solvents become more attractive. identifying the population levels required to change the balance from imported to in situ will be an important task. with the SpaceX proposal of one million colonists some of these tipping points will surely be reached. what tipping points do you see in life support for mars, lunar, and deep space facilities design?
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