14 DAY TRIAL // As European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Paolo Nespoli was living on the International Space Station, he conducted a series of experiments involving miniature greenhouses. The goal was to compare the results to those obtained by another group, the Mars 500 experiment crew.
While the plants aboard the orbital outpost grew in microgravity, those in the Mars 500 simulator grew without natural sunlight for 17 months. The results were, as expected, extremely varied, and they are all presented in depth in the “Greenhouse in Space” report, available here.
The reason why such investigations are being conducted is because they are extremely important for future space exploration plans. As astronauts get ready to venture towards other destinations in the solar system, having access to freshly-grown food becomes extremely important.
Needless to say, conditions in space are way different than those on Earth, so experts need to figure out which of the available options works best.