this week, astronaut peggy whitson broke the record for the longest amount of time spent in space by a US astronaut, after 534 whole days away from planet earth. but with the possibility of spending ever greater periods of time up in space comes the question—how can astronauts sustain themselves whilst away from the blue planet? in turn, NASA scientists have come together with researchers from the agriculture department at the university of arizona to develop an inflatable greenhouse prototype that can be used to grow vegetables in deep space.
这个充气,可移动的温室是亚利桑那大学为宇航员设计的/the inflatable, deployable greenhouse is designed to provide a sustainable vegetarian diet for astronauts. image courtesy of the university of arizona
the prototype is designed to sustain astronauts on a continuous vegetarian diet in distant locations, such as the moon or on mars. aboard the international space station, NASA scientists have long been gaining experience in growing crops in space, yet the new 18 X 7 ft deployable greenhouse can also be used for air revitalization, water recycling or waste recycling. the idea is for carbon dioxide exhaled by the astronauts to be introduced into the martian/ lunar greenhouse, which is then used by the plants to photosynthesize and generate oxygen. the whole process is called a bioregenerative life support system.
由宇航员呼出的二氧化碳到植物在光合作用期间/c02 exhaled by astronauts is used by the plants during photosynthesis. image courtesy of the university of arizona
dr. gene giacomelli, director of the controlled environment agriculture center at the university of arizona explains simply that ‘we’re mimicking what the plants would have if they were on earth, and using of these processes for life support. the entire system of the lunar greenhouse does represent, in a small way, the biological systems that are here on earth.’
植物吸收二氧化碳同时产生氧气及变成食物/the plants scrub c02, whilst producing food and oxygen. image courtesy of the university of arizona
the hydroponic plant growth chamber can use both natural or artificial LED lighting to grow the plants, depending on the location where it is needed. the greenhouse is intened to provide a more autonomous approach to long-term exploration on the moon, mars, and beyond.
亚利桑那大学提供的月球/火星温室的骨架/the skeleton of the lunar/ martian greenhouse. image courtesy of the university of arizona
美国航空航天局的科学家在美国宇航局/a NASA scientist grows lettuce aboard the ISS. image courtesy of NASA