Growing Plants in Space: A Vital Necessity or a Way of Space Exploration

Growing plants in space is challenging since they do not grow when there's zero gravity, and severe radiation kills seeds. Still, if researchers do it right, we can explore cosmic farming to obtain great results for science and further exploration.

It has been possible to grow plants in space on the International Space Station (ISS) for many years. However, using electric light alone is damaging to flora development, not to mention that circulating gases should be continuously swept away so that plants can breathe. When growing plants in space, low gravity also influences most cultures, as it prevents water and air from moving around roots as it normally happens on Earth. Besides, radiation can change the seeds' DNA. Researchers have already begun developing prototypes for miniatured "space greenhouses" to be installed on the ISS. These greenhouses should assist in resolving most issues. Keep reading to understand the main problems with growing plants in space.

How does space influence the growth of plants?

Researchers have learned how to grow plants in space through experience. And, of course, they have faced many challenges, seeing that the cosmos is no place for growing vegetables, at least not for now. For example, space has no gravity, and this makes growing very difficult, as most species do not have a clear idea of where they should be growing. There is neither gravity nor sufficient light for them. Moreover, if they aren't attached to the surface on which they grow, seeds may start floating away in environments with low gravity.

One more challenge among facts about growing plants in space is that watering gets very difficult. Because fluids in zero-gravity tend to create bubbles, water clumps together, which may either lead to plant roots getting submerged or becoming engulfed in air. Or, if water completely floats away from the roots, plants would no longer complete photosynthesis, which would result in their wilting and death. Besides, plants in space have no access to natural light, and this causes them to die as well.

Why are plants important for space exploration?

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At first, when the question was can plants grow in space, scientists struggled to highlight just how important this activity is. Orbital Today found out that cultivating flora in microgravity helps scientists learn how to cultivate plants more successfully in harsh space settings, different from those on Earth. The ISS is a part of the United States National Laboratory system that facilitates scientific and technical progress that would be impossible on Earth.

Plants in space also provide a potentially useful approach to the problem of securing sustenance when away from Earth. Vegetable cultivation on space stations could help not only with providing a healthy diet but also eliminate harmful carbon dioxide from the air while simultaneously producing oxygen that is essential to life. In other words, cultivating flora inside a ship or a space station would help a lot with supporting life on that ship or space station.

How to grow plants in outer space?

Image Credit: Flickr

NASA growing plants in space is not news for many of us. If you are curious about what plants do they grow in space, find out that on the ISS, NASA has been cultivating peas, radishes, and lettuce for some time now. Researchers have created unique containers that solve a lot of problems that were outlined above.

As of 2014, the first version of Veggie, a portable box for growing plants, was sent to the ISS. Each plant in the Veggie is nurtured in pouches resembling pillows and is stuffed with a fertilizer. They help maintain a healthy and normal balance of water, air, and nutrients around these plants' roots. But scientists and botanists don't want to stop at Veggie, as they are currently working on new systems that could help us have cosmic gardens like we would on Earth.

The challenges of growing plants in space are still many, and they need to be dealt with by using the most advanced equipment. Cultivating plants in space is a mission that gets perfected year after year. For example, a group of scientists from the EU aims to cultivate plants in a medium that is permeated with very small tubes. This implies that nutrients and water will be transported to the roots through tubes via capillary action, which makes use of the fact that liquid may naturally flow into narrower gaps. This project is called EDEN ISS and is sponsored by the EU. What's even more interesting about it is that it also focuses on developing lighting systems that use LEDs connected to software that monitors plant development and behavior and adjusts illumination accordingly.

Considering all of this, it is quite probable that we will soon be able to take a piece of our home to space and keep cultivating our flora there.

(Devdiscourse's journalists were not involved in the production of this article. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)