Apologies to David Bowie, but forget if there’s life on Mars. More importantly, is there wine on Mars? Troy Frisby has the details
Georgia is immensely proud of its ancient wine-making tradition, claiming to have been the first nation to make wine. Now it wants to be the first to grow grapes on Mars.
Nestling between the Great Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea, Georgia has a mild climate that is perfect for vineyards and has developed a thriving wine tourism industry.
Now Nikoloz Doborjginidze has co-founded a project to develop grape varieties that can be grown on Mars.
“Georgians were the first winemakers on Earth and now we hope to pioneer viticulture on the planet next door,” he told AFP.
After NASA called for the public to contribute ideas for a “sustained human presence” on the Red Planet, a group of Georgian researchers and entrepreneurs got together to propel the country’s winemaking onto an interplanetary level.
Since archaeologists found traces of wine residue in ancient clay vessels, the country has boasted that it has been making wine for 8,000 years—longer than any other nation.
IX Millennium is managed by a consortium set up by the Georgian Space Research Agency, Tbilisi’s Business and Technology University, the National Museum and a company called Space Farms.
Their project is called IX Millennium—a reference to Georgia’s long history of wine-making.
Video by Buzz60/Troy Frisby[/vc_message]
