Sustained Salad Crop Production Requirements for Lunar Surface

Stutte, Gary W.; Monje, Oscar; Yorio, N.C.; Edney, Sharon L.; Newsham, Gerard; Connole, Lisa; Wheeler, Raymond M.

doi:10.4271/2009-01-2381

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The second were seeds from an edible mustard plant, Mizuna, Brassica rapa var. japonica, which has been identified as a candidate space crop and grown for research and crew consumption on the International Space Station (ISS) [17][18][19][20]. Seeds from both species were irradiated, and subsequently planted and grown to seedlings to demonstrate the impact of the space radiation environment on seeds and their ability to germinate and develop.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of Arabidopsis thaliana and Mizuna Mustard Seeds to Simulated Space Radiation Exposures

Zhang

Richards

Feiveson

et al. 2022

Life

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One of the major concerns for long-term exploration missions beyond the Earth’s magnetosphere is consequences from exposures to solar particle event (SPE) protons and galactic cosmic rays (GCR). For long-term crewed Lunar and Mars explorations, the production of fresh food in space will provide both nutritional supplements and psychological benefits to the astronauts. However, the effects of space radiation on plants and plant propagules have not been sufficiently investigated and characterized. In this study, we evaluated the effect of two different compositions of charged particles-simulated GCR, and simulated SPE protons on dry and hydrated seeds of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and the crop plant Mizuna mustard [Brassica rapa var. japonica]. Exposures to charged particles, simulated GCRs (up to 80 cGy) or SPEs (up to 200 cGy), were performed either acutely or at a low dose rate using the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) facility at Brookhaven National Lab (BNL). Control and irradiated seeds were planted in a solid phytogel and grown in a controlled environment. Five to seven days after planting, morphological parameters were measured to evaluate radiation-induced damage in the seedlings. After exposure to single types of charged particles, as well as to simulated GCR, the hydrated Arabidopsis seeds showed dose- and quality-dependent responses, with heavier ions causing more severe defects. Seeds exposed to simulated GCR (dry seeds) and SPE (hydrated seeds) had significant, although much less damage than seeds exposed to heavier and higher linear energy transfer (LET) particles. In general, the extent of damage depends on the seed type.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of Arabidopsis thaliana and Mizuna Mustard Seeds to Simulated Space Radiation Exposures

Zhang

Richards

Feiveson

et al. 2022

Life

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“…Large-scale crop growth systems included in bioregenerative lifesupport systems (BLSS) will allow for resource recycling and minimize resupplying from Earth. Several projects have aimed to identify the requirements for Lunar and Martian greenhouses, by assessing their feasibility, and developing concepts, theoretical designs, or prototypes at different scales and maturity levels (Wheeler and Martin-Brennan 2000;Stutte et al, 2009;Boscheri et al, 2016;Furfaro et al, 2016;Zeidler et al, 2017). KSC has a long history in controlled environment crop research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large-Scale Crop Production for the Moon and Mars: Current Gaps and Future Perspectives

Poulet

Engeling

Hatch

et al. 2022

Front. Astron. Space Sci.

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In this perspectives paper, we identify major challenges for space crop production: altered convection in the microgravity environment, scheduling and logistics, crew time and the need for advanced automation, robotics, modeling, and machine learning. We provide an overview of the existing space crop production gaps identified by the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) space crop production team and discuss efforts in current development in NASA projects to address these gaps. We note that this list may not be exhaustive but aims to present the baseline needs for space crop production implementation and a subset of current solutions to the greater scientific community in order to foster further ingenuity.

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“…As humanity strives to prepare for the upcoming manned missions to the Moon and cis -lunar orbit, it has become evident that growing plants for food and other life support systems is essential to humankind’s space exploration agenda 1 – 4 . To ensure that these future missions are successful, it is necessary to investigate all aspects of the basic physiological and molecular responses of food crops and their microbiomes to the spaceflight environment, so that any issues faced on these missions can be efficiently managed and mitigated on-orbit.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the lettuce metatranscriptome with MinION sequencing for future spaceflight food production applications

et al. 2021

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Healthy plants are vital for successful, long-duration missions in space, as they provide the crew with life support, food production, and psychological benefits. The microorganisms that associate with plant tissues play a critical role in improving plant health and production. To that end, we developed a methodology to investigate the transcriptional activities of the microbiome of red romaine lettuce, a key salad crop that was grown under International Space Station (ISS)-like conditions. Microbial transcripts enriched from host–microbe total RNA were sequenced using the Oxford Nanopore MinION sequencing platform. Results show that this enrichment approach was highly reproducible and could be an effective approach for the on-site detection of microbial transcriptional activity. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of using metatranscriptomics of enriched microbial RNA as a potential method for on-site monitoring of the transcriptional activity of crop microbiomes, thereby helping to facilitate and maintain plant health for on-orbit space food production.

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Sustained Salad Crop Production Requirements for Lunar Surface

Cited by 7 publications

References 16 publications

Response of Arabidopsis thaliana and Mizuna Mustard Seeds to Simulated Space Radiation Exposures

Response of Arabidopsis thaliana and Mizuna Mustard Seeds to Simulated Space Radiation Exposures

Large-Scale Crop Production for the Moon and Mars: Current Gaps and Future Perspectives

Evaluating the lettuce metatranscriptome with MinION sequencing for future spaceflight food production applications

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