NASA, International Partners Advance Work on Space Crops

NASA and its international partners have taken a step forward in their efforts to grow crops in space. The agency, along with the Canadian Space Agency and the German Aerospace Center, has signed a joint statement of intent to work on an Earth-based demonstrator. This project, called the Lunar Agriculture Module-Ground Test Demonstrator, aims to develop technologies needed to grow crops on the Moon.

The demonstrator will study how crops perform in environments similar to those expected at a future Moon Base, a planned infrastructure near the Moon's South Pole. According to NASA, growing crops in space will provide astronauts with whole-food nutrition and increase dietary variety. The crops will also have the ability to absorb carbon dioxide, produce oxygen, and recycle water.

The project is part of NASA's efforts to support an enduring human presence in space, with the ultimate goal of sending humans to Mars. The agency is currently working on various projects, including the Advanced Plant Imaging project at Kennedy Space Center, where hyperspectral cameras are used to assess plant health.

Brief written by urgent.news from NASA Science, NASA — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.