Soil in Space with Morgan Irons: GotG23

In 2020, Morgan Irons made space exploration history when she sent the first Earth soils to the International Space Station. Morgan joins Emma the Space Gardener to talk about the importance of soil structure on Earth, why she sent soil into space, and how we might develop living soils on Mars.

Hello, and welcome to episode 23 of Gardeners of the Galaxy, the podcast for all of the sentient beings in the universe who have a passion for plants. I am Emma the Space Gardener, and I will be your host as we explore gardening on Earth, and beyond!

I’ve got a great guest on the show for you today. Morgan Irons made space exploration history last year when she sent the first Earth soils to the International Space Station. Morgan is a soil ecologist, and she’s going to be telling us about the importance of soil structure here on Earth and why she decided to send soil into space. 

That’s coming up later in the show. In the meantime, we’ll find out what’s happening in the world of astrobotany. And I’ll answer another listener question in the FAQ section.

The next SpaceX resupply mission to the International Space Station is due to launch soon – on or after 3rd June.

As part of its scientific payload, it’s carrying some exciting plant experiments.  Researchers from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center are ready to launch their space chiles into space. This is Plant Habitat-04, an experiment that will grow in the Advanced Plant Habitat. The APH has over 180 sensors and can regulate moisture levels, temperature, and carbon dioxide concentrations. This growing chamber is mostly autonomous and sends data from its sensors to scientists on the ground at Kennedy.

The chosen chile variety is ‘Espanola Improved’. These New Mexico Hatch Green Chiles are a