---
title: "This Martian Greenhouse Concept Just Won a NASA Award"
description: "A team from Dartmouth University won NASA's 2019 BIG Idea Challenge today for their futuristic design of a dome-shaped Martian greenhouse."
date: "2019-04-26"
modified: "2019-04-26"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/martian-greenhouse-nasa-award"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "greenhouse"
  - "mars"
  - "NASA"
  - "the digest"
---

# This Martian Greenhouse Concept Just Won a NASA Award

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/martian-greenhouse-nasa-award.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Dartmouth\</em\>*

## Red Planet, Green Thumb

A team from Dartmouth University has [won](<https://phys.org/news/2019-04-nasa-winner-demos-red-berries.html>) NASA's 2019 BIG Idea Challenge for a futuristic design for a dome-shaped Martian greenhouse.

The hydroponic structure could allow astronauts to grow their own food on the desolate Martian surface. It'd cultivate up to eight food crops could be grown inside a rotating system that could serve up 3100 calories per day for four astronauts over a 600 day excursion to the Red Planet.

It'd grow kale, soy, sweet potato, potato, broccoli, strawberry, wheat, and chufa. A massive tank filled with a nutrient solution under the ceiling feeds a circular system of crop trays with the help of gravity. LEDs make sure that the plants get enough sunlight.

https://youtu.be/R526kxDOf0E

## Big Payload

But there's one more challenge: getting a greenhouse to Mars. The team calculates that the entire structure could be sent up in a single 20,000 pound (9,130 kg) package — [roughly a tenth](<https://www.spacex.com/mars>) of the advertised payload to Mars of SpaceX's upcoming Starship.

When astronauts aren't busy supervising the mostly self-sustaining greenhouse, they can go for a jog around the outside perimeter.

And back on Earth, the reward for the Dartmouth students is a shot at landing internships at NASA this summer.

**READ MORE:** [NASA winner demos red berries on the red planet](<https://phys.org/news/2019-04-nasa-winner-demos-red-berries.html>) \[*Dartmouth College*\]

**More on growing stuff on Mars:** *[We Can Grow Vegetables in Antarctica. Next Stop: Mars](<https://futurism.com/vegetables-antarctica-space-mars>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)