It’s generally a good idea to make sure your potatoes are dirt-free before you dig in. If you’re on Mars or the Moon, though, it might be good to mix them with dirt. The combination might make an especially strong form of concrete.

Scientists and engineers have spent years thinking about ways to build habitats on other worlds. It’s too expensive to carry everything from Earth, so habitats will have to be built mostly from local materials. But some ingredients will have to come from home. So scientists have experimented with everything from fungus to urine to cow’s blood. One team even used a ground-up bit of a meteorite to make Lego blocks.

A team in England mixed dehydrated starches with simulated Mars and Moon dirt. They tried several plants – rice, corn, tapioca, and potatoes. And the spuds made the best concrete – a mix they called StarCrete. The blend was about twice as strong as regular concrete. And it could be made from potatoes grown in the habitats.

It’ll be quite a few years before anyone is actually living off-world. So there’s plenty of time to dream up new ways to build habitats on Mars and the Moon.

The two worlds appear quite close together tonight. As they climb into view, in early evening, bright orange Mars is just below the Moon. The Moon will move closer to Mars during the night, and they’ll appear to almost touch in the wee hours of the morning.

We’ll have more about Mars tomorrow.

Script by Damond Benningfield