In the 2015 movie The Martian, Matt Damon’s character Mark Watney found himself abandoned on Mars by his colleagues and turned to growing potatoes to sustain himself while waiting to be rescued. If the UAE has its way, the astronauts of the future could be putting their efforts into harvesting dates from palm trees on the surface of the Red Planet.
On July 27, a delivery to the International Space Station (ISS) by SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft included materials needed for the experiments that will be conducted by Hazzaa Al Mansoori, who is due to arrive at the station next month – the first UAE citizen to make it into Space. Among the items were seeds from the date palm native to the UAE, which are to be germinated in Space.
The project is being conducted with the College of Food and Agriculture at UAE University. The plan is to germinate the seeds while in orbit above the Earth and then bring them back down to ground level for planting in the UAE, to see if they grow differently to seeds that have never left the planet.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, ruler of Dubai (C), pictured at the ceremony to unveil the ... [+]
The choice of date palm seeds for this experiment is rooted in the iconic status the plant has in the Gulf. Images of the trees – one of the few things that can cope with the harsh desert conditions of the region, albeit with the help of plenty of modern irrigation – adorn the national emblems of both Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Date festivals can attract hundreds of thousands of visitors and dates are often served alongside coffee around the region.
“Palm trees are deeply rooted in our nation’s heritage and capable of thriving in harsh environments, which inspired us to launch the Palm in Space project and attempt to germinate a palm seed in space,” explained Mohammed Nasser Al Ahbabi, director general of the UAE Space Agency.
In the days since the delivery of seeds to the ISS, the agency has voiced even greater ambitions, talking about the prospects for growing palm trees on Mars.
The state-owned Emirates News Agency ran a brief story on August 4 in which it said the UAE Space Agency was looking at the possibility of cultivating palm trees on the Red Planet. It cited Rashid Al Zaabi, project supervisor and creator of the palm trees experiment, as saying the plant was chosen because “the environment on Mars is similar to the environment needed to cultivate palm trees.”
He added that the UAE Space Agency is supporting scientific research which will help to improve food security “on the Earth and in Space.”
The remarks echo other public comments by Khalid Al Hashimi, director of Space missions, science and technology at the UAE Space Agency, who said “We chose to send palm tree seeds to the International Space Station both because of their importance to the UAE’s culture and heritage, as well as the fact that they are able to withstand the harshest of conditions and are often planted in circumstances that resemble aspects of the Martian environment.”
It will be a long time before any palm tree seeds make their way to Mars though. Two years ago, the UAE laid out plans to send a manned mission to the planet, but the target date for arrival is not until 2117.
Whether or not it will ever be possible to grow date palms in Space remains to be seen, but the sugary fruit would not sustain life for long. The potatoes grown in The Martian are arguably a better bet, but even they have their limits.
All of this is part of a concerted effort by the UAE to develop its own Space industry. The sector was one of a number of areas recently opened up to 100% foreign ownership, in a sign of how the government is keen to attract more investment. However, there have been some setbacks, with a UAE military surveillance satellite lost last month during a failed launch from the Arianespace facility in French Guiana, South America.
