Tag: food
AstroBread? Yum?
by Ricochet on May.10, 2009, under astrobiology
A new article in the journal, Astrobiology by Visscher et al discuss the effects of spaceflight on wheat. Some samples were flown on Mir in 1991 for 167 days. These samples produced seed which were then grown on Earth for 3 generations. Then, they were genetically compared to control samples. The results were that there was no statistical difference between the two sets and appear to show that low earth orbit does not affect the viability of plants.
Obviously, more work needs to be done on this, such as on the Internation Space Station, but I’m wondering if this could help pave the way for agriculture in space. We know that at least for short periods, we can grow food up there. At the very least, we could bring seeds up for every generation (to prevent severe mutations, if they occur). Still, with our population growing, this may be a possible solution if we can just find an alien farmer.
