According to an article published in the latest issue of Space Review, space experts from the International Space Association explore the diet of Martian settlements. Experts point out that due to limited resources, future Martian settlers will have to be vegetarian, and they will grow fruits and vegetables in the "glass dome" greenhouses that serve as settlements.
A Martian settlement conceived by the artist.
Elon Musk reportedly founded SpaceX in 2002 with one of its goals to make humans a "multi-planetary species" and build sustainable settlements on Mars.
According to Musk, Earth settlers will build "glass dome" greenhouses on Mars as temporary settlements for migrants and use hydroponic farms to grow fruits and vegetables for settlers inside the greenhouses.
As SpaceX's "starship" becomes more likely to conduct its first orbital test flight this year, experts are beginning to examine what humans need to settle on Mars.
John H. Thompson of the National Space Association John K. Strickland said that due to limited resources, future Martian residents will have to eat vegetarian food.
Due to limited resources, future Martian residents may have to eat a vegetarian diet.
He said that if the number of Martian residents reaches 5,000, the settlement's "glass dome" greenhouses will require a 0.3 square mile farm to grow fruits and vegetables.
Strickland wrote that in order to achieve Musk's goals, about 5,000 trips would be made using Starship, carrying 200 tons of cargo at a time, before food could be produced.
He suggested that the farm, spread over four floors of space within a "glass dome" greenhouse, would require about 500 megawatts of electricity to support it.
He said migrants would need to use solar cell packs to drive Mars rovers and find mining areas in the vast area around settlements that could be used to produce building materials.
Strickland also said the settlers would have a very good reason to "terraform" Mars because their descendants could actually go outdoors without even wearing oxygen masks.
Text/Nandu reporter Chen Lin