Houseplants in Space: GotG3
Join Emma the Space Gardener as she explores gardening on Earth… and beyond! There’s some great news for space gardeners this week, involving space to grow in, bricks to build with and… hibernating squirrels. And you can discover how many plants it would take to provide your own personal oxygen supply, and what would make a good houseplant in space. Oh, and there’s still time to enter the chilli seed giveaway!
When we go the Moon and Mars, we’re going to need some high-quality real estate in which to set up our greenhouses. The best option may well be lava tubes – the rooms don’t have much of a view, but they have the best radiation protection! The good news is that researchers reckon that the Lava tubes on Mars and the Moon are so wide they can host planetary bases.
And we’ll have plenty of building materials, as researchers in India have figured out a way to make space bricks for lunar habitation from regolith and guar gum.
Mark Watney can relax – Professor Daniel Yeh at the University of South Florida has developed a machine that can turn astronaut poop into fertiliser, and it’s being tested at NASA this month. And there’s some hot new space salsa to spice up astronaut’s meals.
Taiwan is one of nine nations sending seeds into space this autumn with JAXA. One of the species Taiwan has selected is its indigenous quinoa.
The Canadian Space Agency is hoping that a garden in a shipping container in the Arctic can help them learn more about growing food in space. Elsewhere, researchers are investigating whether Arctic Squirrels could hold the key to getting humans to Mars.
In this episode, we hear Sam Coppard discussing his 2019 article How Many Plants Would It Take to Produce Enough Oxygen for One Person? And Sam cheats a little
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