Spinach
Beets
Kale
Sweet potatoes
Sunflower shoots
Green Onions
Basil
Strawberry
Peanut
In the absence of gravity, plants use other environmental factors, such as light, to orient themselves and guide growth.
We decided to put charcoal in our soil (our local wisdom) because it increases the soil's ability to hold onto plant nutrients and beneficial soil microbes by slowing or reducing the leaching of nutrients by rain or watering. The low density of charcoal lightens heavy soils, which allows better root growth, increasing drainage and allowing air into the soil. Charcoal can retain its carbon in the soil for up to 50,000 years, help increase crop yields, and also reduce water runoff.
Because there is no gravity in space, we cannot just simply pour out the water and expect it to go into the dirt but, using pressure, we can push water out of PPR pipes into the dirt easily. PPR are pipes suitable for high pressures and are more durable than normal plastic PVC pipes. These pipes are perfect for long space missions where astronauts would be spending years in space. This is because the pressure is not directly affected by gravity. By pushing water into covered pipes with small holes in them, the water will be pushed out through the small holes in the pipes, saturing the dirt.
Space can be a dark place. Providing light in space uses up a lot of power. Special lights are being developed to provide light for the plants without using so much electricity. A bank of light emitting diodes (LEDs) above the plants produces a spectrum of light suited for the plants’ growth. Since plants reflect a lot of green light and use more red and blue wavelengths.
Wavelengths we can use:
Wavelength 400 - 600 nanometer (Blue) → encourages plant growth Wavelength 600 - 700 nanometer (Red) → encourages flowering and budding
With this information we can create 2 types of Red Planet Vertical Farms, one with blue light to encourage plant growth for them to be eaten and another with red light to encourage flowering and budding to produce new plants. Although the plants we have chosen for the mission will regrow if are cut off correctly, the 2 types of Red Planet Vertical Farms can supply the seeds for the plants that will need to be removed entirely.
In the ISS, a system for the removal of water vapor and CO2 is called CDRA or Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly. This system uses Zeolite which traps water vapor and CO2 and the trapped components could be removed by heating up the material to release the trapped molecules.
The excess CO2 that would be changed to CH4 and sent out into space could be used to supply the plants with CO2. Space X is planning to create a space shuttle to be able to land without its own destruction so with the remaining H2, we can use it as fuel for the trip back to Earth from Mars. In addition to this, the water vapor collected could be put back into the closed watering system and the O2 produced from the Red Planet Vertical Farm can be used for the astronauts to breathe.
This is a demo of our project. It is an accordion-like planter which utilizes a hard plastic planter and flexible enclosed plastic greenhouse. The flexible plastic makes it compact and stowable by being able to fold down into a compact accordion-like device. As you can probably tell, our device was inspired by an accordion and different origami pieces. All the flexible plastic is supported by four different adjustable beams locating in the corners of the device which makes the device versatile for different stages of the plant's development. We went thorough many different prototyps which are displayed below:
Sensors in the Model
Infrared Sensor - The infrared sensor will detect changes in temperature and will send output to the infrared light bulb. This light bulb will light up and provide heat to be the perfect temperature for each kind of plant
CO2 Sensor - This sensor will detect the percentage of CO2 in the air. This information is then sent to the ventilation system which will release CO2 and create a flow of air in an amount that will increase the CO2 levels to a point which is perfect for each kind of plant.
Humidity Sensor - The humidity sensor can detect the humidity of the sensors and increase the water vapor from the humidifiers and create a flow of air to, ultimately, increase the humidity to the specific plant's needs.
Microcontroller - A microcontroller will be controlling the mathematics behind the scenes to ensure that the amount of CO2, heat, and humidity will be in the right amount so that the plants will have the best growing environment.
The humidifier is connected to the air and CO2 vent. This humidifies the air as it comes into the enclosed space for the plants.
The components to control the environment can be connected to the bottom of the planting rack above the planting area.
Lighting
The lighting of the environment can have a huge effect on how the plant develops. As said above, blue light encourages growth while red light encourages flowering and budding. This will be used specific to the species of plants. For example, we will need to add red light to the Strawberry's environment to encourage flowering and fruiting while we will need to add blue light to Green Onions to encourage growth.
Red Light encourages berry growth in Strawberries
Blue Light encourages structural growth in Green Onions
Watering
In microgravity and partial gravity, water doesn't like to flow like on earth. Pressure can be used to push water into the dirt pillow where the plants are planted. In addition, for easy construction, the holes at the bottom of the rack will fit perfectly with the pipes.
https://2021.spaceappschallenge.org/challenges/statements/have-seeds-will-travel/details
https://www.lampsplus.com/ideas-and-advice/grow-lights-for-indoor-plants-_2d00_-getting-started/
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/space_nutrition_book.pdf
https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/radishes-growing-in-space-nasa-iss
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20050210002/downloads/20050210002.pdf
https://science.howstuffworks.com/carbon-dioxide-eliminated-aboard-spacecraft.htm
https://www.capegazette.com/article/add-charcoal-create-rich-quality-garden-soil/25068
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/advanced-plant-habitat.pdf
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/sabatier.html