Plants grown inflight experience a microgravity environment, and plants grown on the surface of Mars experience approximately 1/3 the gravity that Earth plants do. Though greenhouses may solve many of the problems presented by space, their construction would come with their own set of technical challenges. These include the effect of reduced gravity, lighting, and pressure, as well as increased radiation. Technical challenges Advanced Astroculture soybean plant growth experimentĪ variety of technical challenges will face colonists who attempt to do off-Earth agriculture. Among others, NASA is researching how to accomplish space farming. Food production is a non-trivial task and is likely to be one of the most labor-intensive and vital tasks of early colonists. Supply of foodstuffs to others is likely to be a major part of early off-Earth settlements. A mission to Mars could require food storage for as long as five years thus, a new source of these vitamins would be required. A 2009 study noted significant decreases in vitamins A, C and K, as well as folic acid and thiamin can occur in as little as one year of storage. However, vitamin degradation during storage can occur. Both of these methods, for the most part, retain the properties of the food pre-treatment. Currently, much of the food supplied to astronauts is heat treated or freeze dried. 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. Essentially, the space farm turns the spaceship into an artificial ecosystem with a hydrological cycle and nutrient recycling. Just 10 m² of crops produces 25% of the daily requirements of 1 person, or about 180-210 grams of oxygen. The existence of a space farm would aid the creation of a sustainable environment, as plants can be used to recycle wastewater, generate oxygen, continuously purify the air, and recycle feces on the space station or spaceship. ĭue to the cost of resupply and the impracticality of resupplying interplanetary missions, the prospect of growing food inflight is incredibly appealing. 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). One astronaut on the International Space Station requires approximately "1.8 kilograms of food and packaging per day". The supply of food to space stations and other long duration missions is expensive. Introduction Zucchini plant in the Destiny lab Each environment would have differences in the availability of inputs to the space agriculture process: inorganic material needed for plant growth, soil media, insolation, relative availability of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and oxygen, and so forth. However, farming on celestial bodies may lack the complexity of microgravity, depending on the size of the body. 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.įarming on celestial bodies, such as the Moon or Mars, shares many similarities with farming on a space station or space colony. ( January 2013) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations.
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