. Lettuce on Mars is a student project at the University of Southampton that aims to send a greenhouse to Mars. This would allow lettuce to grow in the Martian atmosphere. The payload, if all goes as planned, will be delivered to Mars in 2018, along with other Mars One experiments. Suzanna Lucarotti is the leader of this project. She stated: “To survive on other planets, we must grow food there. This is the first time anyone has done it and no one else has. The plan is technically possible and ambitious. We will bring complex life to another world. Cruise: Everything will remain unaffected during the seven-month trip to Mars. The spaceship will land on Mars with the seeds frozen. After landing: Heaters placed around the growth chamber and maintaining an atmosphere of between C, C (7075F will keep the greenhouse at between C CF. Mars’ surface temperature (minus) C HTML4F, while the air pressure in Mars is one-hundredth that of Earth’s. The Martian atmosphere will provide carbon dioxide (CO2) for heating and pressing. Electrolysis will produce oxygen from water taken from the earth. In the greenhouse’s environment, a certain amount of water containing dissolved nutrients will evaporate. Lettuce growth: Under these conditions, the process of germination for lettuce seeds will start. The greenhouse will receive direct sunlight as well as light from the LEDs at the top. This will allow for photosynthesis. Success! If everything goes as planned, the lettuce should reach its full size within four weeks. A camera will take photos inside the chamber. Images and sensor data will be sent back to Earth daily. After the project is completed, and in accordance with a signal predetermined, the heater will destroy all living matter contained within the payload. This ensures that there are no contamination risks.
