Developing Soil for Martian Farms - Laura Fackrell, Unv. of Georgia - Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion Nov. 10, 2020

How will Martian colonists grow food in space colonies of the near future? We talk to Laura Fackrell, researcher on means to turn the ruddy soil of Mars into a healthy growing medium for plants.

This week, we welcome Laura Fackrell, geochemist at the University of Georgia, to the show. We will be discussing her work developing soil for farms on Mars, capable of growing crops to feed interplanetary colonists.

We will also journey out beyond our solar system, where Voyager 2 hears from NASA for the first time in months. We examine a tiny asteroid traveling through space along with Mars that is a near-perfect geological match for our Moon. Finally, we will explore the Solar System from our own back yards, as all seven planets visible in the sky can be seen this week from most places on Earth.

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Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion will take a week off November 17, and will return November 24.

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- James