Mars
SPUDS IN SPACE NASA plant researchers explore question of deep-space food crops BY LINDA HERRIDGE
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ASA plant physiologist Dr. Ray Wheeler and fictional astronaut Mark Watney from the movie “The Martian” have something in common — they are both botanists. But that’s where the similarities end. While Watney is a movie character who gets stranded on Mars, Wheeler is the lead for Advanced Life Support Research activities in the Exploration Research and Technology Program at Kennedy Space Center, working on real plant research. “The Martian movie and book conveyed a lot of issues regarding growing food and surviving on a planet far from the Earth,” Wheeler said. “It’s brought plants back into the equation.” As NASA prepares the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission-1, it’s also turning its attention to exploring the possibilities of food crops grown in controlled environments for long-duration missions to deep-space destinations such as Mars. Wheeler and his colleagues, including plant scientists, have been studying
ways to grow safe, fresh food crops efficiently off the Earth. Most recently, astronauts on the International Space Station harvested and ate a variety of red romaine lettuce that they activated and grew in a plant growth system called Veggie. Wheeler, who has worked at Kennedy since 1988, was among the plant scientists and collaborators who helped get the Veggie unit tested and certified for use on the space station. The plant chamber, developed by Orbitec through a NASA Small Business Innovative Research Program, passed safety reviews and met low power usage and low mass requirements for use on the space station. Aside from the chamber, the essentials needed for growing food crops, whether on the Earth or another planet, such as Mars, are water, light and soil, along with some kind of nutrients to help them grow. POTATO CROP STUDIES What kind of crops could be grown in space or on another planet? Potatoes, sweet potatoes, wheat and soybeans would all be good according to Wheeler because they provide a lot of carbohydrates, and soybeans are a good source of protein. Also, potatoes are tubers, which means they store their edible biomass