Space Gardening
Will astronauts really be growing—and eating—potatoes on Mars in the near future, just as Matt Damon did in The Martian? We spoke with Prof. Roberta Paradiso about growing and watering plants in microgravity, the importance of a balanced diet for astronauts, and the effects of extreme conditions on plants.
03. Feb 2025
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Will astronauts in the near future really grow (and eat) potatoes on Mars, just like Matt Damon did in the movie The Martian? We talk with Prof. Roberta Paradiso (University of Federico II in Naples) about growing and watering plants in zero gravity, a balanced astronaut diet, and the effects of extreme conditions on plants.
The image shows a potato grown on a cellulose sponge substrate. The experiment is part of the ESA - Pfpu project at the Department of Agriculture, University of Naples (photo credit: Roberta Paradiso)
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Notes |
- Paradiso, De Pascale 2021, Bioregenerative systems to sustain human life in Space: the research on higher plants
- De Pascale et al. 2021, Biology and crop production in Space environments: Challenges and opportunities
- ESA consortium MELiSSA - Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative
Observations |
- (book) G. Cannat, “Glej jih, zvezde! Najlepši prizori na nebu v letu 2025”
- ISS passes: on the website Vesolje.net, on the website Heavens-Above
- Space weather on Space Weather.com
- Aurora Borealis (Slovenian page): https://severnisij.si/
- Phone applications: Stellarium, SkySafari, SkyPortal, Aurora (for Aurora Borealis)
- Desktop planetarium: Stellarium
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Logo: (modified) Moon image, credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
Audio intermezzo: NASA/Hubble/SYSTEM Sounds (Matt Russo, Andrew Santaguida)
Music: Peli (Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti)
Podcast Temna stran Lune is part of the Zavoda Cosmolab activity network: https://www.cosmolab.si
