I hope discussions are allowed in this community.

My idea is the following: if people ever set foot on Mars, they will need a continuous food source. It is preferable to be able to produce at least parts of that food on-site, instead of having to import it from Earth.

Now, i’ve thought about methane-eating bacteria or hydrogen-eating bacteria. They produce organic matter (and thus proteins) from anorganic ingredients (or ingredients that can be produced through technical processes like the Sabatier reaction). This way, anorganic ingredients (water extracted from the environment, hydrogen from electrolysis, CO2) can be turned into a source of proteins.

What do you think?

Is this technically viable?

Is it physiologically viable / healthy?

I’m well aware plants could also produce food. I just wanted to think about a possible alternative.