Red earth and pouring grain?

These days, nothing is dirt cheap — not even dirt. Metaphorical muck thrown on someone can prove expensive, but the garden variety dirt is generally not. However, the recent bid by the University of Central Florida (UCF) to sell ‘Martian soil’ is sure to pique the interest of aficionados of alluvium, especially since it is being disseminated as part of research on what can eventually be grown on Mars. Of course, had the soil actually been brought to Earth from the red planet, it would have cost far more than $20 per kg, especially since shipping is reportedly not included in the price. Luckily, this is only a ‘simulant’, or engineered, Martian soil constructed using the chemical markers beamed back by the rover, Curiosity. That fact should be a huge relief to anyone with niggling fears of extraterrestrial creepy-crawlies with antennae tumbling out of sacks of reddish ‘Martian’ grit.

Even Elon Musk reckons a human settlement on Mars will take at least half a century, so there’s plenty of time to experiment with what can be grown there. But more interesting is the information that Martian dirt can be ‘created’ at home too, as UCF has obligingly published the ‘recipe’. Martian gardens could become the next suburban craze and educational toymakers could hit pay dirt if they get in on this and give playdoughs a run for their clay clods.