AGRICULTURE

ON SPACE
Some space agengy have tried to grow plant
on spacecraft and have been successful.

The growth of plants in outer space has elicited much scientific interest. In the late 20 th and early
21st century, plants were often taken into space in low Earth orbit to be grown in a weightless but
pressurized controlled environment, sometimes called space gardens. In the context of human
spaceflight, they can be consumed as food and/or provide a refreshing atmosphere. Plants can
metabolize carbon dioxide in the air to produce valuable oxygen, and can help control cabin
humidity. Growing plants in space may provide a psychological benefit to human spaceflight crews.
Usually the plants were part of studies or technical development to further develop space gardens
or conduct science experiments. To date plants taken into space have had mostly scientific
interest, with only limited contributions to the functionality of the spacecraft, however the Apollo
Moon tree project was more or less forestry inspired mission and the trees part of a country’s
bicentennial celebration.
Zinnia plant in bloom aboard an Earth orbiting space station.
The first challenge in growing plants in space is how to get plants to grow without gravity. This
runs into difficulties regarding the effects of gravity on root development, providing appropriate
types of lighting, and other challenges. In particular, the nutrient supply to root as well as the
nutrient biogeochemical cycles, and the microbiological interactions in soil-based substrates are
particularly complex, but have been shown to make possible space farming in hypo- and micro-
gravity.
 NASA plans to grow plants in space to help feed astronauts, and to provide psychological
benefits for long-term space flight. In 2017, aboard ISS in one plant growth device, the 5 th crop
of Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa) from it included an allotment for crew consumption, while
the rest was saved for study. An early discussion of plants in space, were the trees on the brick
moon space station, in the 1869 short story “The Brick Moon”.
The list of plants that can be grown in space are

Bok choy (Tokyo Bekana) (Chinese cabbage)

Super dwarf wheat
Apogey wheat
Brassica rapa
Rice
1. Tulips
2. Kalanchoe
3. Flax
4. Onions, peas, radishes, lettuce, wheat, garlic, cucumbers, parsley,
potato, and dill
5. Lettuce and Cinnamon basil
6. Cabbage
7. Zinnia hybrida
8. Mizuna lettuce
9. Red romaine lettuce
10. Sunflower
• Our Intention is to
carry the process
of agriculture in
mass form as it will
result in availability
of food resources in
space and it can
also help us with
the production of
oxygen at the
“Space Human
Settlement”
There are two methods of farming
which we can practice in space.

With Soil Without Soil

1. It is the most common method 1. It is the method that can be
of farming in earth. applied only at some plants it is
2. It provide water and minerals called ‘Hydroponics’ .
to plants for growing 2. It includes water that have all
3. It is not much possible to grow essential minerals for plants.
with soil as there is no soil in 3. It can be very expensive as the
space but if we transport transportation of water from
some soil in space it can serve
earth to the settlement will cost
for many years we can fertize
much as water will be needed at
the soil in space also.
daily basis for growth of plant.
• It is possible in both way so we will discuss about
both first :
Without soil or Hydroponics

WHAT IS HYDROPONIC SYSTEM?

Photosynthesis process:
Carbon Dioxide + Water → Glucose + Oxygen
6CO2 + 6H20 ➜ C6H1206+ 602 There is no mention of “soil” anywhere in
there and that’s all the proof you need that plants can grow without it.
Benefits sometimes questioned.....
Some hydroponic growers got many
times greater yields than conventional
methods.
Because hydroponically grown plants dip
their roots directly into nutrient-rich
solutions, they get what they need much
more easily than plants growing in soil.
With smaller roots, you can grow more
plants in the same area and more yield.
 Manypests are carried in soil, so doing
without itgenerally gives you a more
This is simple setup
for hydroponics
farming it needs
very less space.
Nutrient Solutions
In Hydroponics, nutrient control is easy
A nitrogen-rich Grow Formula
A phosphorous and potassium-rich
Bloom Formula
& The results?
Bumper crops of delicious fruits and
vegetables every time.
 Plants require 17 essential elements to
grow and reproduce
 The first three are Hydrogen, oxygen and
 carbon

 Other 14 are:
 Macro-Elements: Nitrogen, Phosphorous,
Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Sulfur
Microelements: Iron, Manganese, Copper,
Zinc, Boron, Chlorine, Molybdenum, Nickel
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

pH Control 5.8 and 6.4, or slightly acidic

Electrical Conductivity (EC)
1.2-3.5 Mho
Horticultural Lighting Metal Halide (MH),
High Pressure Sodium
(HPS) lamps.
1. Temperature
and Environmental Control
68-78 degrees F.
• ADVANTAGES

Higher yields achieved in a smaller space.

Nutrients precisely controlled.
Grow, bloom and boost formulas used at
theappropriate growth stage. Indoor gardens
grown using full-spectrum horticultural
lighting.
Soil-borne pests and diseases are eliminated.
Weeds are eliminated. Plants are healthier and
reach maturity faster.
1. Automation is possible.
So if we Follow the method of
Hydroponics it will provide us a
good yield but at a high cost we
can provide oxygen and carbon in a
chamber were we can place a set
of plants it will provide all the
nutrients the plants require. So it
will provide the best result to us.
It also have a high risk of not a
proper growth of plant due to
shortage of water as transport of
water can be a challenging
With the use of soil

 Ifwe use soil as a source from plantation it will be

easy to grow them but the soil must be transpoted to
the space settlement.
 Once it is done we can set machine or robots that can
do the process of sowing, ploughing, etc.
 Even human can do this work by wearing special type
of suits.
 With the use of glass chamber we can also ensure
that it doesn’t get away due to less gravity.
 By creating a glass chamber (Air) that is
suitable for the growth of plants
Aeroponics is the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment
without the use of soil or an aggregate medium.Aeroponic culture differs from
both conventional hydroponics, aquaponics, and in-vitro (plant tissue culture)
growing. Unlike hydroponics, which uses a liquid nutrient solution as a growing
medium and essential minerals to sustain plant growth, or aquaponics, which
uses water and fish waste, aeroponics is conducted without a growing medium.
It is sometimes considered a type of hydroponics, since water is used in
aeroponics to transmit nutrients.

Lettuce and wheat grown in an aeroponic apparatus, NASA,

The basic principle of aeroponic growing is to grow plants suspended in a

closed or semi-closed environment by spraying the plant’s dangling roots and
lower stem with an atomized or sprayed, nutrient-rich water solution.[1] The
leaves and crown, often called the canopy, extend above. The roots of the plant
are separated by the plant support structure. Often, closed-cell foam is
compressed around the lower stem and inserted into an opening in the
aeroponic chamber, which decreases labor and expense; for larger plants,
trellising is used to suspend the weight of vegetation and fruit.

Ideally, the environment is kept free from pests and disease so that the plants
may grow healthier and more quickly than plants grown in a medium. However,
since most aeroponic environments are not perfectly closed off to the outside,
Mass Plantation
If we are successful
in agriculture than
we can do mass
plantation that will
result in a large
environment for
humans that will be
a comfortable for
Turning human feces in Manure or Compost

 Humans have started to pollute the space

also by their urine and poop in last some
years humans have literally left poop and
pee in more quantity that can make the
space polluted and in space settlement we
can’t dumb our waste in space to float
freely.
 Soif we turn human waste in manure or
fertilizer it can be a great use for us it will
• The suit of an astronaut is designed to
dump the waste in space the float
freely.
Astronaut will produce
about 180 pounds of
feces that will burn up
in the atmosphere and
look like shooting stars.
The amount of fluid
that will shift out of
Astronaut Suit and
toward his head is
 So to get out of this problem we can
construct some special toilet that can
convert the human waste in fertilizer.
 The toilet will have a special container
that will be connected to the toilet
and the farm (agriculture field) so it
will directly transfer to the farm and
the waste will be Transfered
successfully and can result in a pretty
nice yield and we will be free from
dumping our waste in space
The cycle of food will go on like
So by following
these methods
we can easily set
a farm in space
and can also
Control the waste
by humans and
lead a prosperous