NASA relies on permanent space farm

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2017-02-14 14:00:06

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Give the astronaut a bag of food, and you feed him for a day. But teach him how to grow food in space, and he will eat forever — or at least within a 6-month expedition to the International space station. NASA deals with food from the very first mission, trying to feed astronauts and at home, on Earth and in the sky, on the International space station. For many years the Agency tried to take a variety of approaches: John Glenn got mashed beef and vegetarian pasta; other flight crews used the latest freeze-drying. Not long ago, NASA decided that the astronauts on Board themselves.

Brian ONAT, engineer of the Space centre. Kennedy, engaged in the development of appropriate technologies. With it was built the first system of growing plants in space Veggie, and next month he will send the new, improved Veggie — Advanced Plant Habitat.

The size of the farm as a mini-refrigerator. But instead of storing soda, she will carefully record each step in the growth of plants on Board the space station. This will allow researchers on the Ground to get a deep understanding of how plants change under the action of microgravity and other forces in space. And says Anat, "astronauts will be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor".

Though small, the new environment is equipped with 180 sensors and three cameras. The sensors will record data on temperature, humidity and oxygen. Camera — one of which is infrared, can provide understanding of what is happening on the farm. All the data are processed by computer under the name "Farmer" (PHARMER).

If you don't count the installation, the system should work with very little input data and reduce the astronomical cost of shipping food to the station. Currently, the cost of launching a pound of food into orbit is more than $ 10,000. In addition, the products remain fresh for long. Those tomatoes will sit for a week or two, not more. But if you send seeds to the ISS, astronauts will be able to pamper yourself with fresh vegetables all the time.

One of the breakthrough innovations of the farm became her light. The sun radiates about 2000 micromoles on the Ground. New farm NASA emits 1000, half of the photosynthetic active radiation of the sun. It is an important source of lighting for plants, which need light for growth. But the space station didn't get him, because like the rest of the space station is always covered with darkness. NASA scientists plan to test red, green, blue and white spectrum of light of different intensity to determine the best stimulus for plant growth.

Ultimately, the habitat of plants is more a research project than a normal space farm. But Oneit sees this as the first step in the great mission, the aim of which is to allow a person to live independently outside of the planet. "In the future, on Mars if we colonize it we resources are in the price," he says. You need to learn how to grow plants on a regular basis, and we have only begun to understand it.

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