How would farm animals react on Mars? How would other animals react on Mars? ANSWER from Geoff Briggs on June 19, 1998: You happen to have asked your question of a vegetarian so I am not greatly enthused about speculating about farm animals on other planets. However, I think that one should begin by examining some of the fundamentals involved. The food chain begins with plant life where sugars and oils are created (by photosynthesis) that animals in turn eat and use to create proteins and essential nutrients. When animals (including humans) then eat other animals they are moving further up the food chain with associated energy inefficiency -- that is, it takes an awful lot of plant food to create a given amount of animal protein. Since space travel is very expensive there is a strong motivation to be very efficient in using energy and in moving mass from one place to another. Flying cows to Mars seems like a pretty expensive proposition. I would suppose that intermediate protein products like milk and eggs would not be so energy inefficient and that perhaps a case could be made that such foods could play a role in a space colony. Likewise, it may be that there is a role for fish and seafood. The waste management issues associated with managing a farm on Mars are something else that you should think about. Regarding the general adaptation of animals (humans) to the Martian environment, the first big effect is in terms of reduced gravity -- about 38% of Earth gravity. Humans will probably need to exercise a lot and take other countermeasures to avoid deconditioning -- including loss of muscle and loss of bone mass. Psychologically there will be stresses due to confinement and isolation, the stark landscape and the company of a small crew. Offsetting this will be the excitement of their scientific explorations. Also, I gather that the Apollo astronauts loved the reduced lunar gravity as an experience in itself. Astronauts will also accumulate a radiation dose (solar protons and heavy cosmic rays) that is greater than they would receive on Earth. The degree and significance of this has not been definitively documented. I hope these thoughts will get you started. Geoffrey Briggs