Emma the Space Gardener 🌿🚀In the latest edition of the Gardeners of the Galaxy Mission Report, you can read about the wild strawberries headed for the ISS, plants growing medicines in space, Indian space cowpeas and fungi for Mars farming.
The Shenzhou-23 mission commander says his crew will continue growing tomatoes, wheat and mint during their time on Tiangong, and throw carrots into the mix.
Oh, and he packed some petunia seeds. Just for funsies.
An experiment launched on China's Shenzhou-23 mission aims to grow two consecutive generations of rice seeds in orbit.
https://spacebotany.uk/blog/chinas-shenzhou-23-mission-to-grow-two-generations-of-rice-in-orbit/
After nearly a decade aboard the ISS, NASA's Advanced Plant Habitat is coming home. The largest and most sophisticated plant growth facility ever flown in space will return to Earth on CRS-34 in June, destined eventually for museum display.
The APH grew everything from Arabidopsis to chile peppers, and transformed what we know about growing plants in space.
Later this year, Ohalo III is scheduled to pick up where it left off.
https://spacebotany.uk/blog/end-of-an-era-nasas-advanced-plant-habitat-is-coming-home/
Three gradute students have just sent watercress to the International Space Station, to investigate how microgravity affects its germination and growth.
Numerous student experiments involve germinating plants, but the advisor for this one is Sarah Wyatt, who has conducted a number of studies involving plants in space.
https://spacebotany.uk/blog/ohio-university-students-send-watercress-experiment-to-the-iss/
A new research facility designed to simulate the conditions of space habitats has opened in Dübendorf, Switzerland, operating under the European Space Agency’s Ground-Based Facility programme.
The facility’s research scope spans plant biology, microbial systems, bioregenerative life support, and the testing of technologies intended for future lunar and Martian habitats.
https://spacebotany.uk/blog/switzerland-opens-a-new-space-farming-research-facility/
A quick update for Spudnik-1 fans.
The latest cargo delivery to the ISS contained several space plant experiments, including one on seed ageing from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
https://spacebotany.uk/blog/kew-gardens-has-sent-seeds-to-space-to-find-out-how-well-they-age/
In Don Pettit's latest photo of Spudnik-1, the space spud is growing with its bottom in an old drink bag.
(I blogged what I have discovered about Pettit's latest space gardening adventures last month: https://spacebotany.uk/blog/spudnik-1-don-pettit-reveals-his-iss-potato-experiment/)
The latest on the blog is an update on the mission to send Argentinian quinoa seeds into space - which has more concrete plans now.
https://spacebotany.uk/blog/argentine-quinoas-space-mission-gets-real/
