Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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]
The study of plant response in space environments is another subject of astrobotany research. In space, plants encounter unique environmental stressors not found on Earth including microgravity, ionizing radiation, and oxidative stress. [23] Experiments have shown that these stressors cause genetic alterations in plant metabolism pathways.
In the future, all forests on Earth have become extinct from careless environmental exploitation. As many specimens as possible have been preserved in a series of enormous greenhouse-like geodesic domes serving as closed ecological systems attached to large cargo spaceships, forming part of a fleet of eight "American Airlines Space Freighters", stationed outside the orbit of Saturn.
One of the plants in this study is Bamboo palm (Chamaedorea seifrizii). The NASA Clean Air Study was a project led by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in association with the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) in 1989, to research ways to clean the air in sealed environments such as space stations.
Cabbage growing in a Veggie unit [1]. The Vegetable Production System (Veggie) is a plant growth system developed and used by NASA in space environments. The purpose of Veggie is to provide a self-sufficient and sustainable food source for astronauts as well as a means of recreation and relaxation through therapeutic gardening. [2]
However, plants experience normal growth given that directional light is provided. [10] Normal growth is classified as opposite root and shoot growth direction. This being said, many plants grown in a space flight environment have been significantly smaller than those grown on Earth's surface and grew at a slower rate. [10]
A zinnia flower blooming inside the cupola of the International Space Station, having germinated and grown in microgravity. Experimentation aboard the International Space Station has demonstrated the capability of zinnias to blossom in a weightless environment, an example of plants in space. [15]
Bioastronautics is a specialty area of biological and astronautical research which encompasses numerous aspects of biological, behavioral, and medical concern governing humans and other living organisms in outer space; and includes the design of space vehicle payloads, space habitats, and life-support systems.