The Briefing Room

General Category => Science, Technology and Knowledge => Space => Topic started by: kevindavis007 on May 01, 2017, 11:39:27 pm

Title: NASA inflatable greenhouse could help feed astronauts on other planets
Post by: kevindavis007 on May 01, 2017, 11:39:27 pm

If we hope to someday inhabit other planets, astronauts will need more sources of nourishment than the packets of freeze-dried space food they can take with them. It's not just the nutritional value of fresh produce that has NASA interested in growing greens -- researchers think that astronauts would also get a psychological boost from farming.


To that end, NASA collaborated with researchers at the University of Arizona to design an inflatable greenhouse that can be deployed in space and offer astronauts a sustainable bounty of fresh vegetables.


The greenhouse prototype was built as a "bioregenerative life support system" -- meaning it recycles air, waste, and water. As astronauts breathe out, they release carbon dioxide, which the plants use to generate oxygen through photosynthesis. Water flows through the roots and back to a storage tank where it's oxygenated and fortified in a constant cycle. To avoid radiation, the greenhouses would likely be buried under soil, and so would require an artificial light source.


Read More: http://www.isn-news.net/2017/05/nasa-inflatable-greenhouse-could-help.html
Title: Re: NASA inflatable greenhouse could help feed astronauts on other planets
Post by: kevindavis007 on May 01, 2017, 11:39:46 pm

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Title: Re: NASA inflatable greenhouse could help feed astronauts on other planets
Post by: sneakypete on May 01, 2017, 11:42:27 pm
If we hope to someday inhabit other planets, astronauts will need more sources of nourishment than the packets of freeze-dried space food they can take with them. It's not just the nutritional value of fresh produce that has NASA interested in growing greens -- researchers think that astronauts would also get a psychological boost from farming.

Read More: http://www.isn-news.net/2017/05/nasa-inflatable-greenhouse-could-help.html

@kevindavis

Yeah,I can go along with that.  There is something peaceful and relaxing about gardening.

Even when it's not reefer.
Title: Re: NASA inflatable greenhouse could help feed astronauts on other planets
Post by: kevindavis007 on May 01, 2017, 11:43:14 pm
@kevindavis

Yeah,I can go along with that.  There is something peaceful and relaxing about gardening.

Even when it's not reefer.


Now they need to find ways to bring cows and other sources of protein..
Title: Re: NASA inflatable greenhouse could help feed astronauts on other planets
Post by: geronl on May 02, 2017, 12:11:52 am

Now they need to find ways to bring cows and other sources of protein..

If you can put a human into cryo, you can put a cow into cryo. Imagine how confused the aliens who find them and thaw the cow, thinking it's an astronaut.