They'll look like normal mustard. But plants struggling to survive will emit a soft green light, a signal to researchers that something is amiss. A camera onboard the lander would record the telltale glows and then relay the signal back to Earth. Water on Mars will also be very scarce, and plants will need to conserve every bit, the researchers said. The leaves of all plants contain stomata, little holes that let gas molecules in and out.
Plants have the ability to open and close stomata as conditions demand.
The first wave of Martian plants envisioned by Ferl and his colleagues would sprout inside a very small and protected greenhouse. The greenhouse, he expects, could hold as many as 20 to 30 plants. As important as it is to know whether plants can actually grow on the Red Planet, this project also has a philosophical purpose, said Chris McKay, the principal investigator of the proposed Scout mission. And when this little plant grows on Mars, he believes, it's going to be a major awakening of our interest in our future in space. Space Plants Copyright 2001 by Channel 2000 .