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Astrobiology

Building Greenhouses In Space

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
April 25, 2012
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Astronaut Don Pettit’s Diary of a Space Zucchini
“January 5, 2012: I sprouted, thrust into this world without anyone consulting me. I am not one of the beautiful; I am not one that by any other name instills flutters in the human heart. I am the kind that makes little boys gag at the dinner table thus being sent to bed without their dessert. I am utilitarian, hearty vegetative matter that can thrive under harsh conditions. I am zucchini – and I am in space.”
Keith’s note: When I was in high school I was mesmerized by a film that is often relegated to being a “cult classic” Silent Running. While the premise is from the 1970’s popular mindset, the premise is simple: a bunch of plants and animals are kept alive in space in giant greenhouses. I soon went on to become a biologist – eventually a space biologist at NASA – and these images from the film were always on my mind.

Years later my business partner Marc Boucher and I donated and personally constructed a greenhouse on Devon Island – almost as isolated and harsh as what was depicted in Silent Running. Years later I showed Douglas Trumbull, the director of Silent Running, a picture of the greenhouse (The “Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse“) and told him that Silent Running was my inspiration. A very broad smile expanded acorss Trumbull’s face.
Alas, that greenhouse on Devon Island is now sitting unused on Devon Island with no plans for its future use. During the time that the greenhouse was being used, it was rather other-worldy to walk inside a humid, green mini-biosphere set amdist terrain that has a distinct Martian look and feel. Maybe someone will find a use for it once again. I wonder what today’s hgh school students could do with a remotely operable greenhouse located less than a thousand miles from the north pole near an asteroid impact crater with surroundings noted for their similarity to what we’ve seen on Mars.

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

10 responses to “Building Greenhouses In Space”

  1. Paul451 says:
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    Cute blog. The current US crew seems very whimsical.

    But if Pettit is serious about the pleasure he and others gain merely from the scent of greenery, then a greenhouse module won’t just be important on long duration spaceflight for supplemental food and life-support, but as a psychological buffer.

    • Steve Pemberton says:
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      I saw Silent Running in the theater when I was thirteen years old. To this day I remember Bruce Dern’s reply to one of the other astronauts who asked him why he wanted to eat a smelly cantaloupe when they had plenty of good synthetic food on board.  Dern’s reply “Because I grew it”

  2. NX_0 says:
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    More, Mr. Pettit!
    More!

  3. frosty says:
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    not quite a greenhouse but still a step closer to having one:
    http://www.orbitec.com/docu

  4. Doug Mohney says:
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    “Silent Running” did not end well. 

  5. DTARS says:
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    I question if man can feed himself in space or on mars. Mars having cold nights. Do you think it’s practical Keith!!! When I hear of all the mars mission studies i”m always left wondering can they eat?????

  6. DTARS says:
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    How do you have high school kids grow plants on Devon island?

    Robots???

    Do you set the green house up like a factory.

    Or do you have a humanoid type tele-care taker????

    I think it would be a very cool thing to do.

    Don’t we need to research robotic greenhouse tending techniques anyway???

    Their are people near by most of the time in summer to service the robot.

    Couldn’t Honda get an Osomo up there?????

    How would you design a green house in space would it be a wall with glass??? Or would it have to be under lights???
    Are there serious greenhouse designs ready to be added to ISS or used in Leo.

    When you grow stuff in at devon island did you cover it to simulate night???

    • Andrew_M_Swallow says:
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      How would you design a green house in space would it be a wall with glass??? Or would it have to be under lights???

      IMHO Under lights.

      Lights permit the plants to continue to live under 24 hour days.  Large glass areas makes temperature control difficult.  Radiation shielding can be provided cheaply by thickening the depth of regolith on top of the green houses.

      • DTARS says:
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        Thanks that’s a very expensive way to have to grow plants. I was afraid that was the answer.

        So the best place to grow food might be the back side of a solar power station.

  7. Bent B. Olesen says:
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    I live in Greenland
    I read that the greenhouse on Devon Island is not used more.

    We are a team from Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland are working to develop an Arctic greenhouse may be used by local people in remote areas and have found that the greenhouse on Devon Island is the kind we are looking for.
    We are interested in data from The Arthur Clarke Mars Greenhouse as possible.
    We want to develop a simple greenhouse for locals and test different renewable energy sources

    Greetings
    Bent B. Olesen
    Maniitsoq
    Greenland