Space Agriculture
History / Human Factors / Law & Policy
With longer duration human spaceflight missions gaining popularity, especially when
looking at the future of the Artemis program, agriculture in space is a capability that has proved
to be critical for success. Although today’s astronauts aboard the International Space Station
(ISS) might enjoy dedicated missions for resupplying necessary cargo such as food and water,
this is a luxury that future lunar and Martian colonists won’t have access to due to the heavy
financial expense and additional mass. Since resupply missions will no longer be sustainable for
these longer duration endeavors, the environments which the crews live and work in will need to
be designed for more independence from Earth. This can be achieved through bioregenerative
life support systems that maximize the utility of plants. When examining some historic examples
of growing plants in space and terrestrial analog missions, the multitude of benefits for the crew
becomes evident and cannot be understated. Because of this, any spacefaring nation conducting
long duration spaceflight (LDSF) will likely colonize other celestial bodies this way, which
emphasizes adhering to the legal framework involving other planets and their resources.
As previously mentioned, the many benefits that plants can offer to humans in space can
be fully realized through looking at previously conducted plant experiments in space and in
terrestrial analog missions. Research in space agriculture and bioregenerative life support
systems began in the United States and Russia during the 1950s and 60s. However, decades
before this in the 1920s, Russian aerospace scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky had already
published on the possibility of humans and plants co-existing in closed environments in space
through the maintenance of greenhouses (Tsiolkovsky, NASA Translation, 1975). The primary
, focus of the early U.S. and Russian studies were on algae to test its efficiency for air
regeneration. Although predictions of electrical power and surface area requirements were
calculated to sustain human life, the trade off to meet those requirements was not considered
worth it in the short duration spaceflight missions of the time (e.g., the Mercury and Gemini
programs) (Wheeler, 2017). However, these algae experiments set the stage for future research in
using photosynthetic organisms for oxygen and food production in space. Unfortunately for
algae, converting to a sustainable food source for a crew was not possible. Many of the tested
algae showed too high of protein and nucleic acid levels to be considered for a balanced diet
(Wheeler, 2017). This provided researchers with the opportunity to explore the utility of plants.
Pioneering plant bio-regeneration studies, Russia made excellent use of their crops during
the BIOS projects. Over the course of three human-crewed (2-3 people) closed life support tests
spanning 15 years (across the 1970s and 80s), the crews utilized their crops for food, producing
oxygen, removing carbon dioxide, and also recycling nutrients and potable water from their
waste water. Crops that were planted included wheat, beet, carrot, dill, turnip, Chinese cabbage,
radish, cucumber, onion, sorrel, chufa, pea, tomato, and potato (Wheeler, 2017).
During the 1980s, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began
its plant-based bioregenerative research through the Closed Ecological Life Support System
(CELSS) program. Early in the program’s development, NASA was prioritizing crop selection
for their research (Wheeler, 2017). As Monje et al. (2003) mentioned in their discussion of plants
and advanced life support systems, a complete menu must contain up to 15 species of plants in
order to meet human diet requirements. Also, other favorable traits of selected species include
small sizes, fast growth, high nutritional content, short plant cycles, and high harvest indices.
Finding a good balance between these parameters is what NASA was trying to accomplish
History / Human Factors / Law & Policy
With longer duration human spaceflight missions gaining popularity, especially when
looking at the future of the Artemis program, agriculture in space is a capability that has proved
to be critical for success. Although today’s astronauts aboard the International Space Station
(ISS) might enjoy dedicated missions for resupplying necessary cargo such as food and water,
this is a luxury that future lunar and Martian colonists won’t have access to due to the heavy
financial expense and additional mass. Since resupply missions will no longer be sustainable for
these longer duration endeavors, the environments which the crews live and work in will need to
be designed for more independence from Earth. This can be achieved through bioregenerative
life support systems that maximize the utility of plants. When examining some historic examples
of growing plants in space and terrestrial analog missions, the multitude of benefits for the crew
becomes evident and cannot be understated. Because of this, any spacefaring nation conducting
long duration spaceflight (LDSF) will likely colonize other celestial bodies this way, which
emphasizes adhering to the legal framework involving other planets and their resources.
As previously mentioned, the many benefits that plants can offer to humans in space can
be fully realized through looking at previously conducted plant experiments in space and in
terrestrial analog missions. Research in space agriculture and bioregenerative life support
systems began in the United States and Russia during the 1950s and 60s. However, decades
before this in the 1920s, Russian aerospace scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky had already
published on the possibility of humans and plants co-existing in closed environments in space
through the maintenance of greenhouses (Tsiolkovsky, NASA Translation, 1975). The primary
, focus of the early U.S. and Russian studies were on algae to test its efficiency for air
regeneration. Although predictions of electrical power and surface area requirements were
calculated to sustain human life, the trade off to meet those requirements was not considered
worth it in the short duration spaceflight missions of the time (e.g., the Mercury and Gemini
programs) (Wheeler, 2017). However, these algae experiments set the stage for future research in
using photosynthetic organisms for oxygen and food production in space. Unfortunately for
algae, converting to a sustainable food source for a crew was not possible. Many of the tested
algae showed too high of protein and nucleic acid levels to be considered for a balanced diet
(Wheeler, 2017). This provided researchers with the opportunity to explore the utility of plants.
Pioneering plant bio-regeneration studies, Russia made excellent use of their crops during
the BIOS projects. Over the course of three human-crewed (2-3 people) closed life support tests
spanning 15 years (across the 1970s and 80s), the crews utilized their crops for food, producing
oxygen, removing carbon dioxide, and also recycling nutrients and potable water from their
waste water. Crops that were planted included wheat, beet, carrot, dill, turnip, Chinese cabbage,
radish, cucumber, onion, sorrel, chufa, pea, tomato, and potato (Wheeler, 2017).
During the 1980s, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began
its plant-based bioregenerative research through the Closed Ecological Life Support System
(CELSS) program. Early in the program’s development, NASA was prioritizing crop selection
for their research (Wheeler, 2017). As Monje et al. (2003) mentioned in their discussion of plants
and advanced life support systems, a complete menu must contain up to 15 species of plants in
order to meet human diet requirements. Also, other favorable traits of selected species include
small sizes, fast growth, high nutritional content, short plant cycles, and high harvest indices.
Finding a good balance between these parameters is what NASA was trying to accomplish
