Eustress in Space: Opportunities for Plant Stressors Beyond the Earth Ecosystem
Loading...
Date
2022
Authors
Hessel, Volker
Liang, Shu
Nam Tran, Nghiep
Escribà i Gelonch, Marc
Zeckovic, Olivia
Knowling, Matthew
Rebrov, Evgeny
This, Hervé
Westra, Seth
Fisk, Ian
Other authors
Impact
Export
Share
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
Human space exploration cannot occur without reliable provision of nutritious and
palatable food to sustain physical and mental well-being. This ultimately will depend
upon efficient production of food in space, with on-site manufacturing on space
stations or the future human colonies on celestial bodies. Extraterrestrial
environments are by their nature foreign, and exposure to various kinds of plant
stressors likely cannot be avoided. But this also offers opportunities to rethink food
production as a whole. We are used to the boundaries of the Earth ecosystem such as
its standard temperature range, oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations, plus diel
cycles of light, and we are unfamiliar with liberating ourselves from those boundaries.
However, space research, performed both in true outer space and with mimicked
space conditions on Earth, can help explore plant growth from its ‘first principles’. In
this sense, this perspective paper aims to highlight fundamental opportunities for plant
growth in space, with a new perspective on the subject. Conditions in space are
evidently demanding for plant growth, and this produces “stress”. Yet, this stress can
be seen as positive or negative. With the positive view, we discuss whether plant
production systems could proactively leverage stresses instead of always combatting
against them. With an engineering view, we focus, in particular, on the opportunities
associated with radiation exposure (visible light, UV, gamma, cosmic). Rather than
adapting Earth conditions into space, we advocate on rethinking the whole issue; we
propose there are opportunities to exploit space conditions, commonly seen as
threats, to benefit space farming.
Related resource
Citation
Journal or Serie
Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, 2022, vol. 9, art. 841211.