Space hike: plant growing to survive on a Mars spacecraft. Fast-growing, resistant and productive common, weed species for nutrition.
Űrtúra: növénytermesztés egy Mars űrhajóban túléléshez.
VeloTeoFoto © Fülep Teo, 2022.03.26.
Introduction to the space hike topic: The Earth, our blue and green living planet is our only one home, and the field of hiking. Mankind is an expanding species, human population is consist of home living type and exploring type. Exploring type has to travel and experience always, new and new destination is pointed, the Earth is “not enough”. … Far away from the civilisation spending night in the nature under a starry sky we may feel our exceptional situation in the Universe, which inspire space researches and extraterrestrial challenges. Exploring segments of the Universe is exciting and magical, whether a small stream in a mountain, or another planet in the space. People wish to travel everywhere possible or impossible, but technical questions have to be solved before.
Plant growing experience on a spacecraft: Plant growing on a spacecraft is already a successful project, but in a beginner phase. Space farming was carried out on the International Space Station (ISS), red romaine lettuce was the first people to eat food grown in space, 2015. The China National Space Administration reported that cotton, rapeseed and potato had germinated on the Chang’e 4 lunar lander, on the Moon, 2019. Plant growing theories and experiments were focusing on the Mars project: cabbage, potato, tomato, radish, cucumber etc.
Theoretical questions:
- What kind of plant species I would grow on a spacecraft for staying alive?
- How I would gardening in the space, out of the Earth?
- What are my additional suggestions about space agriculture for the space industry?
I give my environmental scientist and hiker solution to the space agencies for surviving space hike adventure on the Mars project, kindly offering “VeloTeoFoto idea works” to the NASA and SpaceX.
Common and weed plant plantation on a spacecraft: Additionally to the traditional and general cultivated plant species, my idea is plantation of edible wild species: (1.) undemanding common species and (2.) worldwide successful weed plant species on spacecraft. My “hiker survival solution” could be useful on interplanetary spaceship voyage and Mars base, increasing chance of surviving. (Considering technical problems, emergency of space gardening.)
- Higher vitality, higher growing speed.
- More minerals and vitamins.
- More resistant against environmental stress and illnesses.
- Excellent human food.
- Suitable for cultivation even in hard environmental conditions.
- Alternative option for nutrition in case of the plantation of cultivated species collapse.
- Additional option for nutrition, increasing variety of catering.
- Multi-functional wild species for increasing living standard and wellness.
- Wild species help to keep mental hygiene.
- Wild species plantation in space would be an inspiration for Earth agriculture to increase diversity and stability of cultivated species.
Wild species on a spacecraft of interplanetary spaceship voyage and Mars base:
- Common nettle (Urtica dioica): Native distribution: in Europe, temperate Asia, western North Africa. Feature: high vitality, fast-growing, productive, resistant against disturbance. Use: food and culinary, herb and traditional medicine, textiles and fiber (multi-functional).
- Goosefoot (Chenopodium album): Native distribution: eastern Asia. Feature: high vitality, fast-growing, productive, resistant against disturbance. Use: food.
- Common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale): Native distribution: Europe, Asia. Feature: high vitality, fast-growing, productive, resistant against disturbance. Use: food and culinary, herb and traditional medicine.
Outlook: After space hike: plant growing; in a next blogpost I will write about keeping mental hygiene in a long-term space voyage and Mars base, alone or small group for years.
References:
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/space-farming-yields-a-crop-of-benefits-for-earth
https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/china-grows-plants-moon-first-time-ever-ncna958816
https://hvg.hu/tudomany/20190115_kina_holdjaro_csango_4_novenytermesztes_a_holdon
https://hvg.hu/tudomany/20210505_hold_mars_novenytermesztes_antarktisz
Visits: 6