Farming on Mars will be a lot harder than ‘The Martian’ made it seem

Growing plants in Red Planet soil will require adding nutrients and removing toxic chemicals 

farm on Mars, illustrated

To prepare for a future where astronauts could grow their own food on Mars, researchers are trying to grow crops in the lab with fake Martian dirt.

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In the film The Martian, astronaut Mark Watney (played by Matt Damon) survives being stranded on the Red Planet by farming potatoes in Martian dirt fertilized with feces.