Ben Greaves on his HI-SEAS space mission. GotG21.

In the Hi-Seas habitat in Hawaii, analog astronauts take part in simulated space missions. Ben Greaves joins Emma the Space Gardener to talk about the isolation, the dehydrated diet, and his experiment growing microgreens in space-age hydrogel.

Built on the side of a volcano in Hawaii, the HI-SEAS habitat allows analog astronauts to experience the highs and lows of space missions without leaving Earth. In November 2020, Ben Greaves joined the Selene II mission for two weeks of isolation, rehydrated food, and science.

During his mission, Ben worked on a plant experiment growing microgreens (sunflowers and upland cress – Barbarea verna) in a new hydrogel material developed at the National University of Singapore.

Asst Prof Tan Swee Ching has developed hydrogels that use metal salts as their base and are able to absorb around three or four times their weight in water. Their ability to regulate humidity could be applied in smart farms, to grow crops in areas affected by water and food scarcity, and off-world.

And Ben talks about his new Mars Cookbook project, developing post-earth cuisine for future interplanetary pioneers! You can follow the project on Instagram.

At 10 a.m. EDT (4 p.m. CEST) Tuesday, May 4, NASA is hosting a webinar on Antarctic plant research.

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