NASA ScienceCasts: Station Science 101 - Advancing Plant Science with Space Gardens

Gardens growing on the International Space Station are leading to groundbreaking research and offering astronauts a taste of home. Station Science 101: Plant Growth - Feature http://go.nasa.gov/4e57lJ2

What is said in the film

Station Science 101 Advancing Plant Science with Space Gardens Gardens growing on the International Space Station are leading to groundbreaking research and offering astronauts a taste of home. Establishing fresh, reliable, and renewable food sources in space is paramount for future long-duration missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Astronauts on station grow plants in unique facilities. A low-powered gardening chamber called "Veggie" is equipped with adjustable lighting for experimentation. Each plant grows in a "pillow" filled with a clay-based growth media and fertilizer.

The crew routinely looks after the plants and waters them by hand. Tending to plants helps astronauts counter isolation and bolsters mental well-being in space. The XROOTS system, which is integrated with the Veggie facility, uses hydroponic and aeroponic techniques to grow plants without soil or other growth media. This soilless system shows promise for future larger scale crop production in microgravity, and could improve growing techniques and food security on Earth. Another facility, the Advanced Plant Habitat is enclosed and automated.

Cameras and more than 180 sensors are in constant contact with a team on the ground at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. This allows researchers to help control the experiment, freeing the crew's time to perform other tasks. In these habitats, the crew has successfully grown various plants, including lettuces, radishes, flowers, and even antioxidant rich foods such as tomatoes and peppers. While some plants are consumed by the astronauts, others are sent back to Earth for analysis. How plants change and adapt to microgravity is being studied in hopes of developing solutions to produce fresh foods for future missions and to help scientists cultivate plants in challenging environments back on Earth.

The lessons that we're learning from Veggie and the Advanced Plant Habitat are also helping shape space crop production systems for future exploration missions. As NASA continues to experiment with different plants and gardening systems to find the most optimized solutions, astronauts enjoy benefiting from the fruits, or the veggies, of their labors.

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