Plants in space
The growth of
The first challenge in growing plants in space is how to get plants to grow without gravity.[4] This runs into difficulties regarding the effects of gravity on root development, soil integration, and watering without gravity, providing appropriate types of lighting, and other challenges. In particular, the nutrient supply to root as well as the nutrient biogeochemical cycles, and the microbiological interactions in soil-based substrates are particularly complex, but have been shown to make possible space farming in hypo- and micro-gravity.[5][6]
NASA plans to grow plants in space to help feed astronauts and to provide psychological benefits for long-term space flight.[7] In 2017, aboard ISS in one plant growth device, the 5th crop of Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa) from it included an allotment for crew consumption, while the rest was saved for study.[8] An early discussion of plants in space, were the trees on the brick moon space station, in the 1869 short story "The Brick Moon".[9]
History
In the 2010s there was an increased desire for long-term space missions, which led to desire for space-based plant production as food for astronauts.[10] An example of this is vegetable production on the International Space Station in Earth orbit.[10] By the year 2010, 20 plant growth experiments had been conducted aboard the International Space Station.[1]
Several experiments have been focused on how plant growth and distribution compares in micro-gravity, space conditions versus Earth conditions. This enables scientists to explore whether certain plant growth patterns are innate or environmentally driven. For instance, Allan H. Brown tested seedling movements aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1983. Sunflower seedling movements were recorded while in orbit. They observed that the seedlings still experienced rotational growth and circumnutation despite lack of gravity, showing these behaviors are instinctual.[11]
Other experiments have found that plants have the ability to exhibit gravitropism, even in low-gravity conditions. For instance, the ESA's European Modular Cultivation System[12] enables experimentation with plant growth; acting as a miniature greenhouse, scientists aboard the International Space Station can investigate how plants react in variable-gravity conditions. The Gravi-1 experiment (2008) utilized the EMCS to study lentil seedling growth and amyloplast movement on the calcium-dependent pathways.[13] The results of this experiment found that the plants were able to sense the direction of gravity even at very low levels.[14] A later experiment with the EMCS placed 768 lentil seedlings in a centrifuge to stimulate various gravitational changes; this experiment, Gravi-2 (2014), displayed that plants change calcium signalling towards root growth while being grown in several gravity levels.[15]
Many experiments have a more generalized approach in observing overall plant growth patterns as opposed to one specific growth behavior. One such experiment from the Canadian Space Agency, for example, found that white spruce seedlings grew differently in the anti-gravity space environment compared with Earth-bound seedlings;[16] the space seedlings exhibited enhanced growth from the shoots and needles, and also had randomized amyloplast distribution compared with the Earth-bound control group.[17]
Food production is key to making Space exploration feasible. Currently, the cost of sending food to the International Space Station (ISS) is estimated as USD$20 000–40 000/kg, with each crew member receiving ~1.8 kg of food (plus packaging) per day . Re-stocking from Earth, a lunar orbiting Space station or Mars habitation with food will be significantly more costly. The first trips to Mars are expected to be a three-year round trip, and it has been estimated that a four-person crew would need 10–11 000 kgs of food.[18]
Early efforts
The first organisms in space were "specially developed strains of seeds" launched to 134 km (83 mi) on 9 July 1946 on a U.S. launched
Space station era
In 1982, the crew of the
Plant research continued on the
In 2017 the Advanced Plant Habitat was designed for ISS, which was a nearly self-sustaining plant growth system for that space station in low Earth orbit.[32] The system is installed in parallel with another plant grown system aboard the station, VEGGIE, and a major difference with that system is that APH is designed to need less upkeep by humans.[32] APH is supported by the Plant Habitat Avionics Real-Time Manager.[32] Some plants that were to be tested in APH include Dwarf Wheat and Arabidopsis.[32] In December 2017 hundreds of seeds were delivered to ISS for growth in the VEGGIE system.[33]
In 2018 the Veggie-3 experiment at the ISS, was tested with plant pillows and root mats.[34] One of the goals is to grow food for crew consumption.[34] Crops tested at this time include cabbage, lettuce, and mizuna.[34] In 2018, the PONDS system for nutrient deliver in microgravity was tested.[35]
In December 2018, the
The Seedling Growth series of experiments to study the mechanisms of tropisms and the cell/cycle were performed on the ISS between 2013 and 2017.[36][37] These experiments also involved using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, and were a collaboration between NASA (John Z. Kiss as PI) and ESA (F. Javier Medina as PI).[38][37]
On 30 November 2020, astronauts aboard the ISS collected the first harvest of radishes grown on the station. A total of 20 plants was collected and prepared for transportation back to Earth. There are currently plans to repeat the experiment and grow a second batch.[39]
Lunar surface
Lunar soil has also been proven to allow plants to grow on, tested in a laboratory at the University of Florida.[44] These experiments showed that while the plant Arabidopsis thaliana can germinate and grow in lunar soil, that there are challenges presented in the plants ability to thrive, as many were slow to develop. Plants that did germinate showed morphological and transcriptomic indications of stress.[45]
Plants grown in space
Plants grown in space include:
- Arabidopsis (Thale cress)[4][46]
- Bok choy (Tokyo Bekana) (Chinese cabbage)[47]
- Super dwarf wheat[3]
- Apogey wheat[3]
- Brassica rapa[3]
- Rice[24]
- Tulips[46]
- Kalanchoe[46]
- Flax[46]
- Lettuce and Cinnamon basil[48]
- Cabbage[34]
- Zinnia hybrida ("Profusion" var.)[49]
- Mizuna lettuce[1]
- Red romaine lettuce ("Outredgeous" var.)[50]
- Sunflower[21]
- Ceratopteris richardii[51]
Experiments
This section needs expansion with: For every experiment add when and where.. You can help by adding to it. (January 2016) |
Some experiments involving plants include:
- Advanced Plant Habitat, began April 2017 aboard the ISS.[52]
- Bion satellites, began 1973.
- Biomass Production System, began April 2002, aboard the ISS.[53]
- Vegetable Production System (Veggie), began May 2014 aboard the ISS.[54]
- SVET, began June 1990 aboard Mir.[55]
- SVET-2, was conducted in 1997 aboard Mir.[56]
- Lada greenhouse (aka Lada Validating Vegetable Production Unit), began 2002, aboard the ISS.[1]
- ADVASC, aboard the ISS and Mir.[57]
- TAGES, began November 2009 aboard the ISS.[58][59]
- Plant Growth/Plant Phototropism, selected March 1972 aboard Skylab.[60]
- Oasis plant growth unit, began 1971 aboard the Salyut 1.[61]
- Space Rose (STS-95), to evaluate the effects of microgravity on the production of aroma constituents, a rose plant with both an unopened bud and a half bloom was sent into the space aboard NASA space shuttle STS-95 for 9 days, from October 29 through November 6, 1998.[62]
- Plant Signaling (STS-135), began July 2011 aboard the ISS.[63]
- Plant growth experiment (STS-95), began October 1998 aboard the ISS.[64]
- NASA Clean Air Study, began in 1989 at the Stennis Space Center.[65]
- Chang'e 4 lunar lander "biosphere" with seeds and insect eggs to test whether plants and insects could hatch and grow together in synergy, began 2019.[40]
- SpaceMoss (SpaceX CRS-18), a NASA experiment studying the growth of the moss Physcomitrella patens in microgravity, began July 2019 aboard the ISS.[68]
- Algae as sustainable food in space[69][70]
See also
- Astrobotany
- Bioastronautics
- Biolab (payload rack on Columbus laboratory of the International Space Station)
- Bion
- BIOPAN
- Biosatellite program (series of space biology satellites and experiments)
- Endolith (long lived microorganisms that live inside rocks)
- EXPOSE (ISS experiment that tested organisms in low Earth orbit)
- List of microorganisms tested in outer space
- List of species that have landed on the Moon
- Moon tree (trees grown from Apollo 14 space-flown seeds)
- O/OREOS (orbited Halorubrum chaoviatoris and Bacillus subtilis)
- Space food (plants have formed a component of astronaut food)
- Terraforming
- The Martian, a 2015 American science fiction film in which potatoes are grown on Mars
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External links
- Plants in space projects
- STS-118 Plant Growth Archived 4 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine
- Greenhouses for Mars
- Sunlight on Mars: Is there enough light on mars to grow tomatoes?
- Award-winning Mars garden
- Plant biology at low atmospheric pressures in support of Earth-orbital, lunar, or Martian plant growth facilities
- How Plants Know Which Way Is Up