High-Level Project Summary
ABSTRACT:To sustain the colonization in space it is necessary for cultivation of crops in outer earth and other celestial bodies. There are various challenges such as microgravity, nutrient medium, low pressure, radiation for the cultivation of crops in outer space. The plant cultivated in the outer-earth has to be resistant under these conditions and be economically feasible.INTRODUCTION: The supply of food to space stations and other long duration missions is heavy and expensive. One astronaut on the INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION requires approximately "1.8 kilograms of food and packaging per day". To enhance the nutritional value and to make feasible cultivation in outer space is the solu
Link to Final Project
Link to Project "Demo"
Detailed Project Description
BUILDING A SPACE FARM:
Space agencies have been working on specialized system that provides the conditions necessary for plant cultivation in space. These systems are containers that can control the internal environment and grow plants without soil under LED lights.
The ISS uses the VEGGIE SYSTEM developed by Orbital Technologies. It contains lighting and nutrients for a space garden. It contains Red, Blue, and Green LEDs. The red and blue help in plant growth and heath. The plants get the nutrients from a pillow and the size of pillows depends on what kind of veggies grown in them.
MICROGRAVITY:
Plants grown inflight experience a microgravity environment, and plants grown on the surface of plants grown on the surface of Mars will be exposed to much higher levels of radiation than on Earth unless protected.
Mars experience approximately 1/3 the gravity that Earth plants do. However, plants experience normal growth given that directional light is provided. 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.
abidopsis thaliana were grown in the ISS for a period of 6 days from seed hydration, within the EMCS facility. Seedlings grew under a white light photoperiod for 4 days and under lateral red light photoactivation for the last 2 days. The gravity conditions were constant throughout the entire growth period. The levels 0.3 g (approx. the Mars gravity) and 1 g (Earth gravity) were obtained with a built-in centrifuge. (A): Images of seedlings in growth chambers (cassettes) at the end of the growth period. Seedlings grown in microgravity (µg) appear disoriented, whereas under 0.3 and 1 g seedlings show a conspicuous gravitropism (the direction of the g vector is indicated at the right). (B): Confocal microscopic images of the root tips of seedlings of the DII-Venus reporter line of A. thaliana grown in the same conditions. Yellow fluorescence corresponds to a negative pattern of the distribution of the phytohormone auxin. Roots were counterstained with the SCRI 2200 dye (Renaissance Chemicals, North Duffield, UK) for the visualization of the cell wall in blue. Roots grown in microgravity show an altered pattern of auxin distribution with respect to the 1 g control, indicative of some inhibition of the auxin polar transport. On the contrary, the pattern of roots grown at 0.3 g is basically similar to the control pattern, indicating that auxin polar transport is not altered at these partial-g levels
VEGGIE:
The Vegetable Production System, known as Veggie, is a space garden residing on the space station. Veggie’s purpose is to help NASA study plant growth in microgravity, while adding fresh food to the astronauts’ diet and enhancing happiness and well-being on the orbiting laboratory. The Veggie garden is about the size of a carry-on piece of luggage and typically holds six plants. Each plant grows in a “pillow” filled with a clay-based growth media and fertilizer. The pillows are important to help distribute water, nutrients and air in a healthy balance around the roots. Otherwise, the roots would either drown in water or be engulfed by air because of the way fluids in space tend to form bubbles.
the absence of gravity, plants use other environmental factors, such as light, to orient and guide growth. A bank of light emitting diodes (LEDs) above the plants produces a spectrum of light suited for the plants’ growth. Since plants reflect a lot of green light and use more red and blue wavelengths, the Veggie chamber typically glows magenta pink.
RADIATION AND LOW PRESSURE:
plants grown on the surface of Mars will be exposed to much higher levels of radiation than on Earth unless protected. Exposure to high levels of radiation can damage plant DNA, which occurs as highly reactive hydroxyl radicals target DNA DNA degradation has a direct effect on plant germination, growth and reproduction. Ionizing radiation also has an effect on PSII function and may cause a loss of function and generation of radicals responsible for photo-oxidation. The intensity of these effects vary from species to species.
The low-pressure environment of the surface of Mars has also been a cause for concern. Hypobaric conditions can affect net photosynthesis and evapotranspiration rates. However, a 2006 study suggests maintaining elevated CO2 concentrations can mitigate the effects of hypobaric conditions as low as 10 kPa to achieve normal plant growth.
Space Agency Data
To grow the Arabidopsis, the team used samples collected on the Apollo 11, 12, and 17 missions, with only a gram of regolith allotted for each plant. The team added water and then seeds to the samples. They then put the trays into terrarium boxes in a clean room. A nutrient solution was added daily.
“After two days, they started to sprout!” said Anna-Lisa Paul, who is also a professor in Horticultural Sciences at the University of Florida, and who is first author on the paper. “Everything sprouted. I can’t tell you how astonished we were! Every plant – whether in a lunar sample or in a control – looked the same up until about day six.”
After day six, however, it was clear that the plants were not as robust as the control group plants growing in volcanic ash, and the plants were growing differently depending on which type of sample they were in. The plants grew more slowly and had stunted roots; additionally, some had stunted leaves and sported reddish pigmentation.
After 20 days, just before the plants started to flower, the team harvested the plants, ground them up, and studied the RNA. In a biological system, genes are decoded in multiple steps. First, the genes, or DNA, are transcribed into RNA. Then the RNA is translated into a protein sequence. These proteins are responsible for carrying out many of the biological processes in a living organism. Sequencing the RNA revealed the patterns of genes that were expressed, which showed that the plants were indeed under stress and had reacted the way researchers have seen Arabidopsis respond to growth in other harsh environments, such as when soil has too much salt or heavy metals.
By day 16, there were clear physical differences between plants grown in the volcanic ash lunar simulant, left, compared with those grown in the lunar soil, right
Additionally, the plants reacted differently depending on which sample – each collected from different areas on the Moon – was used. Plants grown in the Apollo 11 samples were not as robust as the other two sets. Nonetheless, the plants did grow.
Sowing the Seeds for Future Research
This research opens the door not only to someday growing plants in habitats on the Moon, but to a wide range of additional questions. Can understanding which genes plants need to adjust to growing in regolith help us understand how to reduce the stressful nature of lunar soil? Are materials from different areas of the Moon more conducive to growing plants than others? Could studying lunar regolith help us understand more about the Mars regolith and potentially growing plants in that material as well? All of these are questions that the team hopes to study next, in support of the future astronauts traveling to the Moon.
“Not only is it pleasing for us to have plants around us, especially as we venture to new destinations in space, but they could provide supplemental nutrition to our diets and enable future human exploration,” said Sharmila Bhattacharya, program scientist with NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS) Division. “Plants are what enable us to be explorers.”
Hackathon Journey
The journey of hackathon was very interesting. It enables us explore many datas. It helped us to collect different ideas and create our own views.
References
•Shannon Walker: A Day in the Life on the International Space Station—What's it like to live on the International Space Station? Astronaut Shannon Walker takes readers through her day!
•More to Explore: Space Food Health and Nutrition—Games, videos and stories for elementary students.
•Video: Pizza Night
•Video: Eat Like an Astronaut
•Video: Pudding the Space Way!
•Video: Peanut Butter and Jelly in Space
•Video: How to Prepare (Thanksgiving) Food in Space
•Video: All You Ever Wanted to Know About Space Food
•Video: Everything About Living in Space
•Food for Thought—Eating in Space Educator Guide