{"id":1224,"date":"2020-03-24T19:54:08","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T19:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gardenecologylab\/?p=1224"},"modified":"2025-11-14T14:45:55","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T22:45:55","slug":"astroculture-101","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gardenecologylab\/2020\/03\/24\/astroculture-101\/","title":{"rendered":"Astroculture 101"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2786\/files\/2020\/03\/spaceflower.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1226\" width=\"268\" height=\"178\" srcset=\"https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2786\/files\/2020\/03\/spaceflower.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2786\/files\/2020\/03\/spaceflower-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2786\/files\/2020\/03\/spaceflower-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 268px) 100vw, 268px\" \/><figcaption>#SpaceFlower, a zinnia grown on the International Space Station (ISS). Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Read this article to learn:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The diversity of crops grown in space<\/li><li>First food crop grown in space (onion)<\/li><li>What \u2018lightsicles\u2019 are<\/li><li>NASA and air purification<\/li><li>Space Seeds\u2122<\/li><li>The primary problem facing astroculture\n(irrigation) and why (microgravity)<\/li><li>First space-grown vegetable eaten in space (lettuce)<\/li><li>Expansion of production area in astrocultural\ntrials (1000x increase)<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why astroculture?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Astroculture: growing food in space! \u2018Sure, cool concept,\u2019\nyou might be thinking, \u2018but what does this have to do with garden ecology?\u2019\nWell, the tight confines onboard spacecraft are more constraining than most any\ncompact, dense city on Earth could claim. Perhaps only those in capsule-style\nhousing can begin to appreciate the cramped living quarters of astronauts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The effort to grow food in space is about more than creating\na system which can reduce the need for supply shuttles from Earth. Astroculture\nis the proving ground for compact, synthetic production environments. Any experiments\nare as isolated as possible. This has resulted in NASA (or the National\nAeronautics Space Administration) and other space agencies playing a central\nrole in the development of new technologies to support the growth of plants in\nartificial conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From 1970 to the present there have been:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>21 plant growth chamber design systems<\/li><li>50 different cultivation experiments<ul><li>across ~40 species<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The first food crop grown in space were onions in July, 1975,\nby cosmonauts Klimuk and Sevastianov during the <em>Salyut<\/em> space program of the Soviet Union. They aimed a few bulbs\nfrom the crew\u2019s on-board lighting system at the seeded trays, but nothing more.\nSome plants did germinate, and for the first plants humans have put in space,\nthat\u2019s a significant enough accomplishment on its own. One of the limitations\nto this and all the other experiments at this time were the short flight\ndurations. Only two years previous, the record time in space was set at just\neight weeks\u2014by the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NASA pioneered research into intra-canopy lighting with a\ntechnique they called \u2018lightsicles\u2019\u2014poles of lights which lit ever-higher as\nthe plants grew taller. This idea itself isn\u2019t new. Experiments \u2018on the ground\u2019\nhad shown that shading out lower leaves will lead to senescence or the decay\nand loss of those leaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>See, the problem wasn\u2019t in supplying the right spectrum of\nlight\u2014controlled conditions in space quickly produced plants with lush growth\nin their upper canopy. The problem they quickly realized was a shading out and\nsubsequent decay and loss of leaves below the plant canopy. Lights like\nhigh-pressure sodium or metal halide were simply too hot to be placed within\nthe plant canopy itself. This heat also meant there was significant distance\nbetween light source and plant. This empty space between light and plant was\nthe most the aeronautic agencies were willing to sacrifice to carry out these\nagricultural experiments. They definitely were not going to now account for\nempty space between lights on multiple sides of a plant\u2019s growing area!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The scientists at NASA were ready and waiting for something\nbetter. They quickly embraced emerging technologies like LEDs for all the same\nreasons Earth-bound producers have: they\u2019re energetically efficient with little\nwaste heat all in a compact design. This lighting design and strict need for\ndensity meant NASA also found itself on the frontier of vertical farming\ninnovations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Experiments in astroculture, of growing plants in space, mostly\nboil down to understanding plant function in microgravity. Be this on a\nshuttle, station, Luna, or Mars, all locations exert less gravitational force\nthan the Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2786\/files\/2020\/03\/1024px-ISS-40_Steve_Swanson_harvests_a_crop_of_red_romaine_lettuce_plants.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1227\" width=\"294\" height=\"195\" srcset=\"https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2786\/files\/2020\/03\/1024px-ISS-40_Steve_Swanson_harvests_a_crop_of_red_romaine_lettuce_plants.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2786\/files\/2020\/03\/1024px-ISS-40_Steve_Swanson_harvests_a_crop_of_red_romaine_lettuce_plants-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2786\/files\/2020\/03\/1024px-ISS-40_Steve_Swanson_harvests_a_crop_of_red_romaine_lettuce_plants-768x510.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 294px) 100vw, 294px\" \/><figcaption> Steve Swanson tending Romaine lettuce aboard the ISS. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1982 Arabidopsis was successfully grown seed-to-seed in\nspace then germinated back on Earth. This was proof of concept, plant life off-planet\nwas possible. But the success rate was only about half, and all with a simple,\nmodel plant. This is like sending mice into space before chimps or humans. Subsequent\nexperiments of greater scope found microgravity seriously impedes and sometimes\neven alters plant physiology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, let\u2019s talk about carbon dioxide for a second. Plants\nbreathe the air, just like us, but they\u2019ve got a use for CO<sub>2<\/sub>: it\nplays a key role in photosynthesis. Atmospheric enrichment of CO<sub>2<\/sub> within\nclosed production environments has been practiced since the 1970s. A limited\nset of experiments in 1989 found CO<sub>2<\/sub> supplementation also improved a\ngreat number of factors in microgravity. But this might not be so\ngroundbreaking or critical to astroculture. This is still well before the\ncurrent field of controlled environment agriculture had developed. We now see\ncarbon dioxide as key to increasing plant growth but also recognize a number of\nother inherently limiting factors within artificial environments. Put shortly:\nmost plants, on <em>terra<\/em> <em>firma<\/em> or in outer space, do better with\nCO<sub>2<\/sub> supplementation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What has emerged as uniquely problematic in microgravity is\nirrigation. Maintaining a reliable range of moisture in the root zone has\nbecome the critical adaptation of astrocultural production. I\u2019m sure we\u2019re all\nfamiliar with water adhesion and its surface tension. On the planet\u2019s surface,\nadhesion and tension are frequently dwarfed by the force of gravity itself.\nThis pulls water into the soil, pulls water through the soil, and actually\nplays a large part in the water cycle itself. In microgravity, adhesion and\ntension begin to exert their dominance. It\u2019s difficult to direct and instead\nwill cling to most surfaces it touches. So when water is applied to the root\nzone, it clings to the roots. Many plants end up anoxic: they\u2019ve drowned in\ntheir flooded conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The latest developments are using porous tubes and\/or plates\nto slow the delivery of water and nutrients. It seems like, if we can\u2019t stop\nwater from coating everything it touches, the plan is to greatly restrict its\nflow and access to non-target areas. A slow osmosis via a clay pipe works as a\nbottleneck to prevent drowning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the early 2000s on board the International Space Station,\nastronauts successfully completed two generations&#8211;that\u2019s seed-to-seed,-to-seed\u2014of\nsoy: Space Seeds\u2122. Ok, they\u2019re not really trademarked, but it\u2019s fun to call\nthem \u2018space seeds.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2786\/files\/2020\/03\/20548275841_dcfe4be815_c.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1228\" width=\"306\" height=\"204\" srcset=\"https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2786\/files\/2020\/03\/20548275841_dcfe4be815_c.jpg 799w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2786\/files\/2020\/03\/20548275841_dcfe4be815_c-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2786\/files\/2020\/03\/20548275841_dcfe4be815_c-768x511.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 306px) 100vw, 306px\" \/><figcaption>Astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren eating the first leaves of space-grown lettuce. Image courtesy of NASA Johnson on flickr.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>On August 10, 2015, NASA astronauts were officially allowed to eat space-grown produce for the first time: some leaves of lettuce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to innovative irrigation control techniques, the\nlatest astrocultural experiments have just recently begun to increase in scale.\nThe first growing\narea, in 1971, was a mere 10cm<sup>2<\/sup>. Little gains were made until 2014 when\nthey achieved 1700cm<sup>2<\/sup> of production area by using an \u2018inflatable\u2019\nmodel which astronauts assembled once in outer space. The latest plans utilize\na vertical racking system and aim for a full square meter (10,000 cm<sup>2<\/sup>).\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, that&#8217;s a lengthy enough primer on growing plants in space. There&#8217;s plenty more to be told and a wealth of discoveries yet to be made. If you&#8217;re interested in some further reading, perhaps try some of these options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A grand summary of astroculture is nicely reported in Zabel et al. (2016) <a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1016\/j.lssr.2016.06.004\">http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1016\/j.lssr.2016.06.004<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read a report from NASA (2010): \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/station\/research\/10-074.html\">https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/station\/research\/10-074.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Space Gardening with NASA: <a href=\"https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/science-news\/news-articles\/space-gardening\">https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/science-news\/news-articles\/space-gardening<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are some visually pleasing, incredibly informative graphics here: <a href=\"https:\/\/ntrs.nasa.gov\/archive\/nasa\/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov\/20160013269.pdf\">https:\/\/ntrs.nasa.gov\/archive\/nasa\/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov\/20160013269.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ISS: from NASA to Napa&nbsp;\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/station\/research\/news\/ADVASC\">https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/station\/research\/news\/ADVASC<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Read this article to learn: The diversity of crops grown in space First food crop grown in space (onion) What \u2018lightsicles\u2019 are NASA and air purification Space Seeds\u2122 The primary problem facing astroculture (irrigation) and why (microgravity) First space-grown vegetable eaten in space (lettuce) Expansion of production area in astrocultural trials (1000x increase) Why astroculture? [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8231,"featured_media":1226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1295198],"tags":[1295199,1295204,1295202,1295206,1295203,1295205,1295200,1295201,1295207],"class_list":["post-1224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-space","tag-astroculture","tag-international-space-station","tag-iss","tag-led","tag-nasa","tag-national-aeronautics-space-administration","tag-space","tag-space-flower","tag-vertical","has-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2786\/files\/2020\/03\/spaceflower.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gardenecologylab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gardenecologylab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gardenecologylab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gardenecologylab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8231"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gardenecologylab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1224"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gardenecologylab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1229,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gardenecologylab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1224\/revisions\/1229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gardenecologylab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gardenecologylab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gardenecologylab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gardenecologylab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}