NASA officials say humans are expected to live and work on the moon by 2030.
Foreign media commented that the pace of human return to the moon is getting closer and closer, and manned moon landing has also attracted much attention. In addition to the critical technologies needed for a manned lunar landing, the health and safety of astronauts remains a top priority. How do astronauts live on the moon? How do you have a constant source of fresh food? This will be an issue that national space agencies and international organizations will jointly pursue.
How hard is it to have a vibrant space garden?
Science fiction fans may remember the grueling experience of Mark Waterney, the protagonist of Andy Weir’s novel The Martian, who tried to grow potatoes when he was alone on Mars. We also remember that in the movie “Walking on the Moon Alone”, maintenance worker Duguyue accidentally stayed on the moon alone. And if humans are to have a lasting foundation for survival beyond Earth, then growing plants in space is absolutely necessary.
Astronauts have previously managed to eat space radishes, peppers and lettuce grown on the International Space Station, but there are still many challenges to creating a vibrant space garden.
The space environment is rich in carbon dioxide, lacks soil microorganisms, changes in gravity, exposure to strong radiation, and highly salinity liquid water. In order for plants to thrive in space and provide humans with comprehensive and balanced nutrition, they need to be redesigned.
Compared to freeze-dried and prepared foods, renewable fresh food sources are a “good remedy” for improving astronauts’ health, providing essential vitamins and minerals, and increasing the variety and taste of meals, which can avoid “food fatigue”, malnutrition and weight loss in astronauts.
Currently, space plants grow in closed man-made environments with low-energy LED lights, porous clay “soils” that supply water, nutrients and oxygen to the roots; High-tech sensors and cameras monitor plant health. However, plants have not yet evolved the ability to grow in this environment, and they are not ready to meet changes in light, temperature, etc., which limits the full growth potential of plants.
As a result, scientists will adapt plant genetics to produce faster-growing “pickable and edible” food crops such as tomatoes, carrots, spinach and strawberries, allowing them to reach their maximum potential in a closed, controlled environment.
Australia: Plant plants on the moon in 2025
Australia will grow plants on the moon as early as 2025. The Australian Lunar Horticultural Development Experiment (ALEPH-1) aims to investigate whether plants can not only tolerate the harsh lunar surface, but thrive.
The types of plants sent to the moon will be carefully selected based on how quickly they germinate and their tolerance to the extreme temperature fluctuations experienced in space.
One of the plants under consideration by the researchers is an Australian native “resurrection grass” that can endure harsh conditions and survive for months in a dormant state without any water.
Plant seeds and “resurrection grass” will be delivered to a specially designed capsule aboard Israel’s Genesis 2 spacecraft. The chamber will contain sensors, cameras, and water. After landing on the lunar surface, plant growth and general health will be monitored for 72 hours, and data and images will be transmitted back to Earth.
Japan: Companies preparing for the lunar market
Some Japanese venture capital firms are also preparing for a potential market for manned moon landings.
DigitalBlast, a Tokyo-based Japanese space enterprise consulting firm, has developed a device that artificially generates gravity for plants.
The device, called “Amaz”, is 20 centimeters in diameter, 40 centimeters wide and weighs 5 kilograms, and it can generate the same gravity in space as on Earth or the moon.
Astronauts can place plants in three capsules, which the machine rotates to generate gravity. Astronauts can vary the rotation speed of each capsule, producing the same gravity as Earth with more than 100 revolutions per minute, comparable to the moon with less than 50 revolutions, and zero gravity without rotation.
The company plans to install and operate the device on the International Space Station in 2024.
In addition, in February this year, Japanese venture capital firm Towing partnered with construction company Obayashi-gumi Co., Ltd. to successfully grow Komatsu using sand found on the moon.
Towing is using technology to heat and convert sand from the moon into material with many small bumps and dents that could provide habitat for microbes. Then, by adding microorganisms and human excrement, the material is turned into soil.
USA: Dwarf tomato seeds to be sent to the space station
NASA and Musk’s space exploration company SpaceX jointly flew the 26th commercial cargo spacecraft launch mission on November 26, delivering a large amount of supplies, a pair of new solar arrays, dwarf tomato seeds and a series of scientific experiments to the International Space Station.
According to NASA’s official website, the Cargo Dragon spacecraft will conduct two important space biology studies and one physical science research, which will further understand how astronauts survive and thrive in the deep space environment.
One of the experiments was to study the growth of dwarf tomato seeds, which would be grown under two different light treatments to measure the effects of light on the fruit, as well as nutritional value and taste. As a controlled experiment, the tomato seeds will also be planted on Earth to measure the impact of the zero-gravity environment on their growth.
Space tomatoes will be grown in small bags known as plant pillows, which are installed in the space station’s vegetable production system, called a vegetable growth chamber. Astronauts often water and nurture plants as they grow, and pollinate the flowers.
Earlier this year, U.S. scientists successfully planted Arabidopsis thaliana for the first time using lunar soil collected during NASA’s Apollo lunar landing program.
Exploring space has brought thousands of innovations. It can be expected that as the effort to land manned people on the moon continues, new areas of human achievement are on the horizon, and people will soon be able to go beyond looking up at the night sky in amazement, but also to step into destinations beyond the atmosphere and sow the seeds of entirely new ways of life there.
The article was first appeared at Sciencenet.
