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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]
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] This runs into difficulties regarding the effects of gravity on root development, providing appropriate types of lighting, and other challenges.
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.
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.
These rapid plant movements differ from the more common, but much slower "growth-movements" of plants, called tropisms. Tropisms encompass movements that lead to physical, permanent alterations of the plant while rapid plant movements are usually reversible or occur over a shorter span of time.
Image Credit: 123RF. Not all seeds sprout at the same rate. While environmental conditions may alter germination time (e.g., if the soil is too cold, tomato seeds may take longer to germinate ...
Furthermore, plant cells contain obligate endosymbionts, which could be released into a new environment. Though both plant seeds and bacterial spores have been proposed as potentially viable vehicles, their ability to not only survive in space for the required time, but also survive atmospheric entry is debated.
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