Header image by Md Asif from Pixabay
Header image by Md Asif from Pixabay
In 1971, NASA astronaut Stuart Roosa, a former US Department of Agriculture Forest Services smoke jumper, carried tree seeds into lunar orbit during the Apollo 14 mission. The The US Department of Agriculture Forest Services grew those seeds into seedlings, and the distributed the resulting ‘Moon Trees’ to national monuments and dignitaries around the world, with a large number distributed as part of the United States Bicentennial events.
Exciting news from NASA – the space agency has selected the first science experiments designed for astronauts to deploy on the surface of the Moon during Artemis III (currently planned for 2026) – and one of them will grow plants!
Header image: Lettuce in a grow room. Image credit: University of Western Australia (UWA).
Gardeners of the Galaxy friend Wieger Wamelink and his research team at Wageningen University & Research and the B.A.S.E. project investigate how we can create a circular and sustainable agricultural ecosystem for food production… on the Moon or Mars.
Hello, Gardeners of the Galaxy! It’s time for a new episode, and our Mission Specialist for this one is Patrick Grubbs, who recently completed a Professional Science Master’s degree in Controlled Environment Agriculture at the University of Arizona. Patrick is one of the people behind the Space Ecology Workshop, an annual virtual symposium on bioregenerative life support, space agriculture, closed ecological systems, and more. He also co-founded The Spring Institute for Forests on the Moon, an international non-profit research organization developing closed ecological life support technology and working to democratize space access in underrepresented countries. The Spring Institute is working on some really exciting astrobotany projects, and Patrick is here to tell us about… some of them!
Jessica Atkins of Texas A&M University and Sara Oliveira Santos at Brown University have published preliminary results suggesting that commonly used gardening techniques could help grow chickpeas on the Moon.
In this episode, Emma the Space Gardener talks with Marshall Porterfield, Professor of Biological Engineering & Space Biophysics at Purdue University, who offers up some highlights from his long career in space science. During a stint as Division Director for Space Life and Physical Sciences at NASA headquarters in Washington DC. Marshall oversaw the Human Research, Physical Sciences, and Space Biology Programs including research and engineering assets at six NASA centres. He established the first open science, and advanced integrated omics research programs including NASA GeneLab and the NASA Twins Study.
Header image: An illustration of a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft approaching the International Space Station for docking. Image credit: NASA
Header image: Space broccoli. Image credit: NASA/Don Pettit
Did you know that the Gardeners of the Galaxy podcast has a Patreon? It’s one of the main ways that my rocket boosters can support the show financially, and give me more time to work on it.
Agro-tech manufacturer GreenOnyx has announced its flagship product, Wanna Greens®, the natural fresh Wolffia vegetables that surpass any traditional greens, made history as the first duckweed plant to rocket into space* on SpaceX to the International Space Station (ISS).
Header image: Nicotiana benthamiana seedlings growing in simulated lunar soil in a laboratory at the China Agricultural University in Beijing. Image credit: Yitong Xia via REUTERS.
As NASA plans missions to the Moon and Mars, a key factor is figuring out how to feed crew members during their weeks, months, and even years in space.
According to the China Global Television Network, the vegetable cultivation experiment carried out by Chinese astronauts during the Shenzhou-16 mission to the Tiangong space station has yielded a good harvest, verifying the reliability of its plant growth technology in space.
Header image: An artist’s depiction of a fictional Mars colony, with solar arrays and underground greenhouses. Image credit: NASA
Header image: ESA’s Large Diameter Centrifuge (LDC) running at full speed. Image credit: ESA –A. Le Floc’h
In the summer of 1863, a world-famous English botanist was pondering why the shoots of climbing plants twirl around as they grow. In this episode, join Emma the Space Gardener as she explores the fascinating world of plant movement, and what that has to do with the first plants that ever flew on NASA’s space shuttle.
Header image: An artist concept depicts a greenhouse on the surface of Mars. Plants are growing with the help of red, blue and green LED light bars and a hydroponic cultivation approach. Image credit: SAIC
The current crew (Shenzhou-16) on China’s Tiangong space station are growing a crop of lettuce. This video shows them watering the crop (from the bottom).
China Central Television has produced a short video showing the plant experiments growing on the Tiangong space station. The Shenzhou-16 crew has been in orbit for almost three months, and says their space vegetable garden has given a good lettuce harvest.
It’s Sunday morning, and Ryan is still asleep, and I got a bit bored and started playing around with one of those “blog title generators”. (For those of you for whom this is a new concept, they generate click-bait style headlines for a topic you give them.)
Get ready for launch, it’s time for the latest edition of Gardeners off World!
Header image: Mizuna lettuce growing aboard the International Space Station before being harvested and frozen for return to Earth. Image credit: NASA
Header image: Good enough to eat – ‘Outredgeous’ lettuce grown under pink lights on the International Space Station. NASA, CC BY-SA
Briardo Llorente, Macquarie University
Join Emma the Space Gardener as she explores gardening on Earth… and beyond! In this episode, Emma recaps the latest space plant news and then talks about some of the seeds with space stories.
Header image: Tokyo Bekana Chinese cabbage leaves prior to harvest aboard the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA
Right now, 200 miles above your head, chilli peppers are growing on the International Space Station (ISS).
Whether or not that old packet of seeds will germinate is a question that often arises in gardening. But when the seeds in question have taken a trip to the International Space Station (ISS), the answer gets a bit more complicated. In 2015, a million rocket (AKA arugula) seeds blasted off to spend six months in space. When they returned to Earth in 2016 they faced an even larger challenge – they were to be sown by a horde of little fingers as the RHS Rocket Science experiment turned school children into space gardeners!
Move over, Mark Watney, there’s a new space botanist heading for Mars! Ryan and I have just finished watching the new Netflix series Away, which follows (over 10 episodes) the quest of five international astronauts to be the first people to set foot on the red planet.
Header image: The greenhouse at McMurdo Station in Antarctica is the only source of fresh food during winter. Eli Duke/Flickr, CC BY-SA
At times, usually when I supposed to be doing something else because I’m a grad student and procrastination of some form seems to be part of the gig, I find myself planning what plants I would include in an imaginary biodome on a inhospitable planet many astronomical units away. Imaginary biodomes are one of my favourite thought exercises – to me it is the perfect fusion of my love of space exploration and my attempts to grow as much as my own food as I can in my small backyard.
We’ve had the Hydroponicum for over a year now. It has kept us supplied with salads and stir-fry veg, and I’ve grown one or two more experimental crops as well. Not everything I have tried has been successful. My spinach bolted (I’m not sure why, and I haven’t tried again yet). Alliums don’t seem to like germinating in the hydroponic seedling tray, and coriander downright refused. Coriander seedlings will grow hydroponically, though, so I may try allium transplants at some point.
ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli will carry a special greenhouse during his expedition aboard the International Space Station and he invites young science enthusiasts to carry out experiments there with him.
Over our heads, on the International Space Station, chilli peppers are blooming and being hand-pollinated by astronauts.
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