The Coral Plant is a stunning tropical shrub that can add a touch of exotic beauty to any garden or indoor space. It gets its name from its attractive coral-like appearance and unique foliage!
Could we grow plants on asteroids?
21.08.2023 - 11:41 / theunconventionalgardener.com / Emma Doughty
Header image: Mars’ asteroid-sized satellites Deimos and Phobos. Image credit: ESA
Today is Asteroid Day, designed to promote global awareness of the risk of us Earth being hit by an asteroid, and all the ensuing chaos and mayhem. But that’s gloomy, so instead I thought I’d take a look at some of the research that has been done on growing plants on asteroids!
Most asteroids orbit between Jupiter and Mars, with a few in the outer solar system between Saturn and Uranus and several groups with orbits that swing into the inner system. Astronomers used to call them the ”vermin of the skies’, because these these minor planets would unexpectedly appear on photographic plates, ruining deep sky studies.
ESA explains that there seem to be three distinct ‘flavours’ of asteroid. Most are as dark as charcoal and carbon-rich. These carbonaceous (C-type) asteroids are probably leftovers from the formation of the solar system. The brighter stony (S-type) asteroids are composed of nickel-iron and magnesium silicates. And M-type asteroids, the rarest but brightest type, are made of almost pure nickel-iron.
In 2010, Japan’s Hayabusa mission brought samples of asteroid Itokawa. Hayabusa2 dropped its payload of samples from asteroid Ryugu in December 2020. And NASA’s OSIRIS-REx is currently on its way home with samples of asteroid Bennu, delivering its return capsule to Utah in 2023.
So we’re learning a lot about the composition of asteroids, and people are using that data to try growing plants in asteroid regolith!
Last year, Sherry Fieber-Beyer and Steven Russell at the University of North Dakota were studying whether lettuce, radishes and peppers can grow in simulated asteroid regolith, an exact mineral copy of samples taken from
The website greengrove.cc is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.
Top Autors
Popular Topics
theunconventionalgardener.com
21.08.2023 / 12:04
Astronauts Are Growing Plants and Vegetables in a Space Garden
Header image: Mizuna lettuce growing aboard the International Space Station before being harvested and frozen for return to Earth. Image credit: NASA
theunconventionalgardener.com
21.08.2023 / 12:01
Grow houseplants to improve indoor air quality
Today is the first day of National Plants at Work Week, which aims to promote the use and benefits of indoor plants. You may have been eyeing up the windowsills in your office with a view to growing your own chillies or sweet peppers, but did you know that you can grow your own fresh air too?
theunconventionalgardener.com
21.08.2023 / 12:00
How to grow agretti (Salsola soda)
If there’s a plant that’s destined to explode onto the Grow Your Own scene this year, then it has to be agretti (Salsola soda). Agretti got good press last year as being a vegetable sought-after by chefs; it didn’t hurt that seed was in short supply! Suppliers have taken note, however, and there are plenty more sources this year.
theunconventionalgardener.com
21.08.2023 / 11:59
Here’s how we could build a colony on an alien world
Header image: Out of this world. NASA
theunconventionalgardener.com
21.08.2023 / 11:59
The common herb that could bring bees buzzing to your garden
Header image: *Psyche Delia*/Flickr, CC BY-NC
theunconventionalgardener.com
21.08.2023 / 11:57
Interstellar greenhouses: how a single molecule could be key to growing plants in microgravity
Rupesh Paudyal, University of Leeds
theunconventionalgardener.com
21.08.2023 / 11:56
Living in a bubble: inflatable modules could be the future of space habitats
Morgan Saletta, University of Melbourne and Kevin Orrman-Rossiter, University of Melbourne
theunconventionalgardener.com
21.08.2023 / 11:56
Space junk: a recycling station could be cleaning up in Earth orbit by 2050
Header image: <a href=«https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/space-junk-orbiting-around-earth-conceptual-233084350?src=» http:>Johan Swanepoel/Shutterstock
theunconventionalgardener.com
21.08.2023 / 11:55
Growing plants in lunar soil
When Neil Armstrong made his giant leap for humankind in 45 years ago, he got covered in Moon dust. Throughout the Apollo missions, dust was an issue. Fine but rough, it caused problems with the space suits, and created mini dust storms in the cabin once the landers launched back into space.
theunconventionalgardener.com
21.08.2023 / 11:53
10 winter vegetables to grow now
It’s time to cut down on your carbon footprint and help lock carbon in the soil, and the good news is that this doesn’t have to be a self-sacrificing activity, it can be a win-win situation if you choose to grow your own food!
theunconventionalgardener.com
21.08.2023 / 11:51
NASA’s Gioia Massa on growing plants on the International Space Station: GotG10
Join Emma the Space Gardener as she explores gardening on Earth… and beyond! Emma’s guest on this week’s show is Dr Gioia Massa, a Project Scientist at the NASA Kennedy Space Center, working on the Veggie growing system on the International Space Station. Gioia talks about the challenges of growing plants in space, those blooming space zinnias, and when we might see astronauts eating their first space tomato!