Permanent colonies are planted on the Moon. A manned space probe takes off for Mars. Sound like science fiction? About the time you are preparing to leave high school and entering college, these will likely become a fact. Both the United States and China have announced plans for manned Moon bases and the U.S. for visiting Mars.
One problem you won’t have read too much about: what are the astronauts going to eat? A round-trip to Mars and return involves about a 900-day mission for a crew of six. They are going to need about 10,000 kilograms of food during that time.
It may be a little easier to supply the four astronauts NASA will send to the Moon for six months in 2020. But it costs about US$50,000 to launch a single pound, or less than half a kilogram, into space. So why not have the space travellers or moon-based explorers grow their own?
Last April, the journal Nature reported that the scientists at the European Space Agency discovered that plants can grow, without the need of extra fertilizer, in crushed-up rock very like the lunar surface. This, and other recent advancements should scrap the need for highly touted hydroponic systems.
The problem with such is that they depend on water – lots of it. And the only likely source of water onboard the Mars mission is likely to be urine from the crew. While the recent Phoenix lander seems to have discovered ice in that planet’s arctic region, it will take the crew from 150 to 300 days to reach there – a lot of pee-power.
The problem of supplying scientists on the International Space Station with tasty, nutritional, easy-to-prepare and psychologically satisfying food has been of constant concern. Still, it is only a few days away and relatively easy to supply directly from Earth.
Things will soon become more complicated – a lot more complicated. Almost a decade ago NASA suggested such salad vegetables as lettuce, tomatoes, radish, and spinach plus melons and strawberries to supplement a basic diet, the advantage that they could be eaten raw and so consume little extra power. Staples that would require processing might include potatoes, peanuts, sweet potatoes, soya beans, even wheat and rice, suggested the space agency. Algae and mushrooms have recently been added to the list. Even edible insects have been suggested.
Until there is a food crisis, those who raise food are forgotten, if not rudely shoved aside. Last October, long articles on space by both Scientific American and National Geographic both managed to avoid a single word on food aloft let alone who might grow it. A month later, the present food crisis exploded on our home planet. It would seem that an additional mission specialist is going to be vital to future space exploration. For information on your chances of making it into NASA see
astronauts.nasa.gov.
Since you are reading this, your interest in plant science, or horticulture, is obvious. Could this be the key to your becoming literally spaced out?
What would you be called? A mission moniker has yet to be suggested. A xenobiologist (pronounced ‘zeno-biologist’) is a specialist in life off our planet Earth; so how about xenohorticulturist?
Beam me up, Scotty.
