NASA to grow plants in space without soil
The space is full of many wondrous things like stars, planets, galaxies, black holes and what not. In fact, various countries have time and again sent their missions in space to explore something new. However, moving a step ahead, USA’s space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has joined hands with entrepreneur, investor, and business magnate, Elon Musk’s private spaceflight company, SpaceX, to send four astronauts, into space for different science experiments. One of them is growing plants in space without soil. The four astronauts are Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, and Jessica Watkins of NASA, and Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency.
How will the astronauts grow plants without soil in space?
The four-member team of scientists will conduct a series of tests to grow plants without soil using hydroponic (liquid-based) and aeroponic (air-based) techniques. XROOTS is the name of the experiment.
Hydroponics is a method of growing crops without using soil. Instead, a different medium is resorted to for supporting the plant's roots and growing them directly in nutrient-rich water. Aeroponics, like hydroponics, is a method of growing plants in a soilless environment. While hydroponics relies on nutrient-rich water to provide nutrition to plants, aeroponics relies on nutrient-rich mist to provide nutrition to plants.
Moreover, Veggie (Vegetable Production System) is a space garden aboard the International Space Station that NASA astronauts and other space partners use to study plant development in microgravity. For the past five years, the space garden has been supporting NASA with plant research. Now, Crew-4 intends to push the boundaries of space plant study by producing flora on Mars.
What other experiments will Crew-4 carry out?
Crew-4 will also take part in the Protein-Based Artificial Retina Manufacturing experiment. It will evaluate a manufacturing process for developing artificial human retinas.
The astronauts will also be working on the Kibo Robot Programming Challenge, which allows students to write programmes to control Astrobee, the International Space Station's free-flying robot.
Medical research has also been a priority for astronauts in space as they strive to assure a healthy lifestyle for future crews travelling to the Moon and Mars. The Crew-4 will carry on the tradition by demonstrating tests to diagnose medical issues. For this, they will be using a modified commercial off-the-shelf gadget. Flow cytometry, a process that uses lasers to sort and identify cells, is used in the experiment to assess cell count and characteristics, detect pathogens, biomarkers, and proteins, and diagnose health issues such as blood malignancies.