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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]
Plants can metabolize carbon dioxide in the air to produce valuable oxygen, and can help control cabin humidity. [4] Growing plants in space may provide a psychological benefit to human spaceflight crews. [4] The first challenge in growing plants in space is how to get plants to grow without gravity. [5]
A Veggie module weighs less than 8 kg (18 lb) and uses 90 watts. [7] It consists of three parts: a lighting system, a bellows enclosure, and a reservoir. [8] The lighting system regulates the amount and intensity of light plants receive, the bellows enclosure keeps the environment inside the unit separate from its surroundings, and the reservoir connects to plant pillows where the seeds grow.
Essentially, the space farm turns the spaceship into an artificial ecosystem with a hydrological cycle and nutrient recycling. [4] [5] 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.
Aeroponics is the process of cultivating plants in an air or mist environment, eliminating the need for soil or an aggregate medium. The term "aeroponic" originates from the ancient Greek: aer (air) and ponos (labor, hardship, or toil).
It remained a garden plant until the Dust Bowl era (1930s–1940s), when the vine was marketed as a way for farmers to stop soil erosion. The new Soil Conservation Service grew seventy million kudzu seedlings and paid $8 an acre (equivalent to $180 in 2024) to anyone who would sow the vine.
Wisconsin Fast Plants were initially developed as part of a larger breeding project of Rapid-Cycling Brassicas, originating in the early 1970s. [1] Wisconsin Fast Plants and other Rapid-Cycling Brassicas were selected through conventional plant breeding to be a tool that would speed up genetic research for disease resistance in economically important Brassica crops. [3]
In nature, some seeds require particular conditions to germinate, such as the heat of a fire (e.g., many Australian native plants), or soaking in a body of water for a long period of time. Others need to be passed through an animal's digestive tract to weaken the seed coat enough to allow the seedling to emerge. [2] Malted (germinated) barley ...