MarsGarden: Designing an ecosystem for a sustainable multiplanetary future

Exploration of space has always held a certain fascination for humankind. Stepping foot on the Moon may have been the achievement of the century, and sending humans to Mars will be even more challenging and exciting. To achieve self-sufficiency off the Earth, humans will need a steady supply of food while also maintaining adequate mental health. We propose here a closed-loop ecosystem that accomplishes both while being feasible to transport, construct, and maintain on Mars. The resulting design, MarsGarden, is capable of providing a crew of four astronauts with all their dietary needs and also acting as a place of relaxation and restoration. MarsGarden is a scalable architecture that can be adapted to many deep space environments, or can be implemented on Earth as an agricultural solution for areas with land scarcity or extreme environments. •Sustained life on Mars will require the ability to grow food.•A hydroponics-based greenhouse offers a viable option for food production on Mars.•MarsGarden is designed to maximize food production in a constrained space.•MarsGarden improves the psychological wellbeing of astronauts on Mars.