LifeChanger Hypnosis Blog

From Shirley MacLaine Newsletter

Although space fare has steadily improved over time, a team of
scientists says the best is yet to come. They look forward to
when residents of future lunar or even Martian outposts can dine
on luxuries such as fresh vegetables.

Paragon Space Development Corporation has unveiled what it called the first step toward growing flowers - and eventually food - on the Moon. Paragon, an Arizona company that has partnered with NASA in previous experiments on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station, calls it a "Lunar Oasis". It's a sealed greenhouse that looks like a bell jar encased in a 1.5
foot tall triangular aluminums frame.

It's designed to safely land a laboratory plant on the lunar
surface, and protect it while it grows. The miniature greenhouse
is to be launched into space by Odyssey Moon Ltd, a participant
in the Google Lunar X Prize. Paragon officials say future testing
of the "Lunar Oasis" will be driven by Odyssey's flight schedule,
which will not happen until 2012 at the earliest.

When it does lift off the greenhouse will contain the seeds of
Brassica, a hardy plant related to Brussels sprouts and cabbage
that is used in the production of cooking oil and livestock feed.
Because Brassica goes from seed to flower in just 14 days, it can
complete its life cycle in a single lunar night.

"Colonizing the Moon or Mars seems so far away, but it is
important that we do this research now," Paragon president Jane
Poynter said. "It takes a long time to get a lot of research,
and to get integrated, reliable efficient systems" before
colonists move in, she said.

NASA, which will retire its Space Shuttle fleet this year, has
committed to two new goals: returning astronauts to the Moon by
2020, and a manned mission to Mars by 2030.

"I was pleased to see this (project) put together by Paragon,"
said Gene A. Giacomelli, a professor at the University of Arizona
Department of Plant Sciences. "NASA has pulled back on funding
for bio-regenerative life support systems, and most of the
centers in the US that had been doing that research had stopped."
Giacomelli and students at the university's Controlled
Environment Agriculture Center (CEAC) are working on their own
as-yet-unfunded lunar greenhouse.
The agriculture center also makes remote operational improvements
to its existing, state-of-the-art hydroponic "growth chamber" at
the National Science Foundation's new Amundsen-Scott South Pole
Station in Antarctica.

Conditions at the South Pole, which include a high-altitude, low
air-pressure environment, and wind-chill factors of minus 100 C,
make the project a "good analog" to conditions at a lunar
outpost, Giacomelli said.
The South Pole greenhouse, now in its fifth year, allows workers
living in the coldest place on Earth to dine on tomatoes,
peppers, lettuce, strawberries and fragrant herbs. It produces
about 27 kilos (60 pounds) each week, enough to provide each of
the 75 scientists there with two salads per day.

"This isn't science fiction," Giacomelli said. "We have the
technology to sustain life on the other planets right now, if we
could get there."
There are many challenges to growing plants in space, but the
biggest is finding enough water on site to support a permanent
outpost. An expedition to Mars will take three years to
complete, so plants must multi-task: remove toxins from the space
facility air, recycle wastes, generate oxygen, provide nutrients
for future crops, and produce food.

I wouldn't mind having something like that in my backyard!

posted by LifeChanger Blog @ 4:15 PM