Space farming
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Space farming refers to the cultivation of crops for food and other materials in space or on off-Earth celestial objects – equivalent to agriculture on Moon.
Farming on celestial bodies, such as
Introduction
The supply of food to
Due to the cost of resupply and the impracticality of resupplying interplanetary missions, the prospect of growing food inflight is incredibly appealing. The existence of a space farm would aid the creation of a
In addition to maintaining a shelf-life and reducing total mass, the ability to grow food in space would help reduce the vitamin gap in astronaut's diets and provide fresh food with improved taste and texture. Currently, much of the food supplied to astronauts is heat treated or
Supply of foodstuffs to others is likely to be a major part of early off-Earth settlements. Food production is a non-trivial task and is likely to be one of the most labor-intensive and vital tasks of early colonists. Among others, NASA is researching how to accomplish space farming.[6][7]
Technical challenges
A variety of technical challenges will face colonists who attempt to do off-Earth agriculture. These include the effect of reduced gravity, lighting, and pressure, as well as increased radiation.[6] Though greenhouses may solve many of the problems presented by space, their construction would come with their own set of technical challenges.[8][9]
Plants grown inflight experience a
In addition to the varying effects of gravity, plants grown on the surface of Mars will be exposed to much higher levels of radiation than on Earth unless protected. Exposure to high levels of radiation can damage plant DNA, which occurs as highly reactive hydroxyl radicals target DNA.[11] DNA degradation has a direct effect on plant germination, growth and reproduction.[11] Ionizing radiation also has an effect on PSII function and may cause a loss of function and generation of radicals responsible for photo-oxidation. The intensity of these effects vary from species to species.[12]
The low-pressure environment of the surface of Mars has also been a cause for concern. Hypobaric conditions can affect net photosynthesis and evapotranspiration rates. However, a 2006 study suggests maintaining elevated CO2 concentrations can mitigate the effects of hypobaric conditions as low as 10 kPa to achieve normal plant growth.[13]
Martian soil contains a majority of the minerals needed for plant growth except reactive nitrogen, which is a product of mineralization of organic matter.[14] Since the Martian surface is deficient in organic matter, reactive nitrogen is lacking. Reactive nitrogen is a required constituent of soil used for plant growth, and it is possible that nitrogen fixing species, such as bacteria, could aide in supplying reactive nitrogen. However, a 2014 study suggested that plants were able to germinate and survive a period of 50 days on a Martian and lunar soil by using simulant soils. This being said, only one of the four experimented species did well enough to achieve full flower formation, and more work is needed to achieve complete growth.[14]
Experiments
- The "GreenHab" at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utahcontains a greenhouse designed to emulate some of the challenges resulting from farming on Mars.
- The Lada experiment and the European Modular Cultivation System[15] on the International Space Station is used to grow small amounts of fresh food.
- In 2013, NASA funded research to develop a 3D food printer.[16]
- The NASA Vegetable Production System, "Veggie," is a deployable unit which aims to produce salad-type crops aboard the International Space Station.[17]
- The 2019 lunar lander Chang'e 4 carries the Lunar Micro Ecosystem,[18] a 3 kg (6.6 lb) sealed "biosphere" cylinder 18 cm long and 16 cm in diameter with seeds and insect eggs to test whether plants and insects could hatch and grow together in synergy.
- The future
- The EDEN-ISS project was a 4 year project in Antarctica at Neumayer Station III designed to showcase plant cultivation system for future tests on-board ISS and a Future Exploration Greenhouse (FEG) for planetary habitats. The project has since been extended.[21][22]
Crops experimented with
Following crops have been considered for use in space farms:[3][23] potatoes, grains, rice, beans, tomatoes, paprika, lettuce, cabbage, strawberries, onions, and peppers.
See also
- Astrobotany
- Biosphere2
- Bioastronautics
- Generation ship
- Human mission to Mars
- Microgravity
- Plants in space
- Scientific research on the International Space Station
- Vegetable Production System
References
- ^ PMID 21535783.
- ISSN 2391-9531.
- ^ a b Kijk magazine 9/2015
- ^ Maggi F. and C. Pallud, (2010), Space agriculture in micro- and hypo-gravity: A comparative study of soil hydraulics and biogeochemistry in a cropping unit on Earth, Mars, the Moon and the space station, Planet. Space Sci. 58, 1996–2007, doi:10.1016/j.pss.2010.09.025.
- ^ Maggi F. and C. Pallud, (2010), Martian base agriculture: The effect of low gravity on water flow, nutrient cycles, and microbial biomass dynamic, Advances in Space Research 46, 1257-1265, doi:10.1016/j.asr.2010.07.012
- ^ a b Moskowitz, Clara (15 May 2013). "Farming on Mars? NASA ponders food supply for 2030 mission". Fox News. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
- ISSN 2391-9531.
- ISSN 2391-9531.
- ISSN 2391-9531.
- ^ PMID 23217113.
- ^ .
- S2CID 28544281.
- PMID 17155885.
- ^ PMID 25162657.
- ^ "NASA - European Modular Cultivation System". Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
- ^ "NASA grant $125K to fund 3D food printer". 3ders News. 21 May 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
- ^ "NASA - Vegetable Production System". nasa.gov. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
- ^ China Is About to Land Living Eggs on the Far Side of the Moon Archived 2 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Yasmin Tayag, Inverse. 2 January 2019.
- ^ Lunar Plants LPX Experiment. NASA. Accessed on 5 January 2019.
- ^ NASA's Next Frontier: Growing Plants On The Moon. Tarun Wadhwa, Forbes. 2013.
- ^ "EDEN ISS | Ground Demonstration of Plant Cultivation Technologies and Operation in Space". Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- ^ "DLR - Institute of Space Systems - EDEN ISS". www.dlr.de. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- ^ Wheeler, Raymond (2010). "Plants for human life support in space: from Myers to Mars". Gravitational and Space Biology. 23: 25–36.
- "HowStuffWorks "How Space Farming Works"". science.howstuffworks.com. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
- "Advanced Astroculture TM (ADVASC)" ISS Program Scientist's Office. 3/7/2008. (5/14/2008) https://web.archive.org/web/20100426041533/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/ADVASC.html
- "Analysis of a Novel Sensory Mechanism in Root Phototropism (Tropi)" ISS Program Scientist's Office. 12/21/2007. (5/14/2008) https://web.archive.org/web/20100203064705/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/Tropi.html
- "Biomass Production System (BPS)" ISS Program Scientist's Office. 2/8/2008. (5/14/2008) https://web.archive.org/web/20100324005944/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/BPS.html#backtoTop
- Encyclopædia Britannica. "International Space Station." 2008. (5/14/2008) http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/747712/International- Space-Station
- "European Modular Cultivation System." European Space Agency. (5/14/2008) https://web.archive.org/web/20070813142020/http://spaceflight.esa.int/users/index.cfm?act=default.page& level=11&page=fac-iss-dest-emcs
- Franzen, Harald. "Space Farming Presents Challenges." Scientific American. 4/11/2001. (5/12/2008) http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=space-farming-presents-ch
- Halvorson, Todd. "Lettuce and LEDs: Shedding New Light On Space Farming." Space.com. 9/26/2001. (5/13/2008) http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/light_farming_[permanent dead link] 010926.html
- Katayami, N. et al. "Entomophagy; a key to space agriculture." Space Agriculture Task Force. (5/13/2008) [1]. ac.jp/space_agriculture/Archive/PDF/Insect_Eating_ASR2006-g. pdf+eating+insects+space+farming&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us&client =Firefox-a
- Mansfield, Cheryl. "Orbiting Agriculture." John F. Kennedy Space Center. 10/20/2005. (5/14/2008) http://www.nasa.gov/missions/science/f_lada.html
- "Molecular and Plant Physiological Analyses of the Microgravity Effects on Multigeneration Studies of Arabidopsis thaliana (Multigen)" ISS Program Scientist's Office. 3/21/2008. (5/14/2008) https://web.archive.org/web/20100918004023/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/ Multigen.html
- "Photosynthesis Experiment and System Testing Operation (PESTO)." ISS Program Scientist's Office. 3/14/2008. (5/14/2008) https://web.archive.org/web/20100324005220/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/PESTO.html#top
- "Plant Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus (PGBA)." ISS Program Scientist's Office. 12/7/2007. (5/14/2008) https://web.archive.org/web/20100918004023/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/ PGBA.html
- Quinn, Sheri. "Plants as Important in Space as on Earth." Voice of America 4/8/2008. (5/13/2008) http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/library/news/2008/space-080408- voa02.htm
- The Kitchen Sisters. "Beyond Tang: Food in Space." NPR. 6/7/2007. (5/12/2008) https://www.npr.org/2007/06/07/10792763/beyond-tang-food-in-space
- "The Optimization of Root Zone Substrates (ORZS) for Reduced Gravity Experiments Program." ISS Program Scientist's Office. 3/28/2008. (5/14/2008) https://web.archive.org/web/20100918004023/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/ ORZS.html
- "Threshold Acceleration for Gravisensing (Gravi)." ISS Program Scientist's Office. 1/11/2008. (5/14/2008) https://web.archive.org/web/20100918004023/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/ Gravi.html
External links
- International Space Station: A First For Space Farming
- 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