Fancy a wee bit of salad? Researchers test system to grow fruit and veg for astronauts on the moon and mars - using urine as fertiliser
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Astronauts on the moon and Mars could soon have fresh food to eat, thanks to a radical new 'space greenhouse'.
German researchers are testing the system, which uses recycled urine to manufacture fertilizer.
They hope to build a complete greenhouse in Antactica to test the first space garden in 2016.
Engineer Daniel Schubert holds lettuce at the German Aerospace Center on July 21, 2014 in Bremen, Germany: Researchers hope their system could allow astronauts on the moon and Mars to grow their own food.
The system could eventually be used to create a greenhouse on the lunar surface
HOW IT WORKS
The greenhouses will contain combined life-support systems which use recycled urine to manufacture fertilizer, helping to grow vegetables for a lunar and Mars environment.
It also uses specially developed purple LED lighting to boost growth rates.
The system is being developed at the German Aerospace Center in Bremen, and is called EDEN (Evolution & Design of Environmentally-closed Nutrition sources).
Funded by the European space Agency, the greenhouses will contain combined life-support systems which use recycled urine to manufacture fertilizer, helping to grow vegetables for a lunar and Mars environment.
The first greenhouse will be tested for nine months in 2016/17 in an inhospitable environment in the Antarctic.
This research initiative focuses on bioregenerative life support systems, especially greenhouse modules and technologies for future human habitats in remote locations in space (the Moon, Mars) and on Earth (Antarctica), the team say.
'One of our projects is to test a greenhouse module at the Neumayer Station III in Antarctica, where the winter team stays in total isolation for nine months in a row in a hostile environment,' said DLR research engineer Lucie Poulet.
Engineer Daniel Schubert measures the size of a cucumber at the German Aerospace Center, where Scientists and engineers from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) are developing greenhouses for a potential Mars colony.
The first greenhouse will be tested for nine months in 2016/17 in an inhospitable environment in the Antarctic.
'We want to find ways to meet the group's needs when it comes to fresh fruits and vegetables but it will also enable us to study the psychological influence of plants on human isolation.'
'Ultimately this analog test site will enable to generate good research data for future human space exploration and in extension human settlement in the solar system.
The greenhouses will contain combined life-support systems which use recycled urine to manufacture fertilizer, helping to grow vegetables for a lunar and Mars environment.
Engineer Daniel Schubert holds lettuce at the German Aerospace Center - and astronauts on Mars could soon be using the same system to grow food
'Naturally, space travel is interesting in itself, but it is equally important for us to be involved in this project in order to demonstrate that our technology is the light system of choice for plant science research,' said Christopher Steele of Heliospectra, which manufactures the LED lights in the system.
'We want to be a part of developing the plant growing opportunities of the future, whether it is here on earth or in space.
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