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Zinnia plant in bloom aboard an Earth orbiting space station. The growth of plants in outer space has elicited much scientific interest. [1] In the late 20th and early 21st century, plants were often taken into space in low Earth orbit to be grown in a weightless but pressurized controlled environment, sometimes called space gardens. [1]
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]
One astronaut on the International Space Station requires approximately "1.8 kilograms of food and packaging per day". [1] For a long-term mission, such as a four-man crew, three year Martian mission, this number can grow to as much as 24,000 lb (11,000 kg).
The organisms require nutrient-rich water with temperatures between 6 and 14 °C (43 and 57 °F). They are known for their high growth rate—the genera Macrocystis and Nereocystis can grow as fast as half a metre a day (that is, about 20 inches a day), ultimately reaching 30 to 80 metres (100 to 260 ft).
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.
The growth rate of Wolffia varies within and among species. The rates of photosynthesis and respiration also vary proportionately to growth rate. The fastest growth rate (in fact, the fastest growth rate of any flowering plant) is shown by a clone of Wolffia microscopica, with a doubling time of 29.3 hours.
The pineapple is an example of a CAM plant.. Crassulacean acid metabolism, also known as CAM photosynthesis, is a carbon fixation pathway that evolved in some plants as an adaptation to arid conditions [1] that allows a plant to photosynthesize during the day, but only exchange gases at night.
NASA life support GAP technology with untreated beans (left tube) and biocontrol treated beans (right tube) returned from the Mir space station aboard the space shuttle – September 1997. Plants had their first encounters with Earth's orbit back in 1960 during two separate missions, namely Sputnik 4 and Discoverer 17 (for a comprehensive ...