NASA Selects 7 New Space Plant Studies

NASA has announced grants or cooperative agreements for seven exciting new space biology investigations to advance our understanding of how plants respond, acclimate and adapt to the space environment, in support of human space exploration.

As we prepare to explore beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO), NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division (BPS) is shifting its research priorities towards work that will enable organisms to Thrive In DEep Space (TIDES). The focus is on determining the effects of multiple deep-space stressors, including deep space radiation and reduced gravity on plants: species that serve as model organisms or produce food crops for astronauts.

The nutritional benefits of growing plants in LEO and/or in deep space also make plant research valuable to the Human Research Program, who will provide access to the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory at Brookhaven National Laboratory for some of the awarded studies.

Seven investigators from seven institutions in six states will conduct these space biology investigations. Five awards are to investigators new to the Space Biology Program within BPS. Most of the seven investigations are ground-based, with one destined to fly to the International Space Station (ISS).

The selected studies involve, but are not limited to, efforts to:

John Baker, Ph.D. Medical College of Wisconsin, Inc.,Determining the Impact of Space Radiation and Simulated Microgravity on Plant Root Microbial Community Composition and Function

Colleen Doherty, Ph.D. North Carolina State University,How Do Carbon Fixing Strategies Affect Nutritional Content Under High CO2? A Comparison of C3 vs. C4 Microgreens

Rebecca Lybrand, Ph.D. University of California, Davis,Growing Food on Mars: Determining the Impact