Plants In Space

Among the first experiments carried out in the Columbus module on ISS has French astronaut Leopold Eyharts tending to plants growing in zero gravity. The plants, which happen to be a relative of mustard, will be brought back to Earth on the next shuttle mission and analyzed against similar plants grown in normal gravity.

The idea of growing plants on huge spaceships for food and other reasons, of course, is a staple of both space-oriented science fiction and the plans of engineers and designers mapping out deep space missions. If plants cannot be successfully grown beyond Earth, maintaining human groups in space over any length of time is likely impractical.

Happily for the adventurous among us, that doesn't seem to be the case. Botth NASA and the Soviets/Russians have experimented with growing various types of plants on space stations and shuttle flights for years. The growth patterns in zero gravity seem to alter, but the plants do grow. When humanity has a permanent presence on the Moon, comparing plants grown in zero gravity, in the one-sixth Earth gravity of the Moon, and in normal Earth gravity may provide the key to growing plants wherever we go.