Imagine domes capable of growing plants, vegetables and fruits on the Moon and Mars. If this project may sound like science fiction, it is being implemented by the French start-up Interstellar Lab, which is already working on it with NASA, Cnes and various aerospace players.
“Contrary to what you might think, you can grow anything in space!”, enthuses Barbara Belvisi, founder and CEO of this young shoot founded in 2018 and which will see in the course of the year 2022. the realization of his project: to manufacture a first biopod capable of growing plants, even in the desert. A system that will serve as a prerequisite before accompanying humanity in the conquest of space.
Botanists, architects, aerospace engineers, agronomists… are currently combining their talents to develop these modular biopods, which are assembled block by block to form an inflatable structure of 55 square meters, as big as an apartment but under a height of 5 meter high ceiling. An achievement that poses new challenges, including that of managing water, a vital necessity for plants. “Water is the sinews of war in space”, underlines for CNEWS Barbara Belvisi, whose company has just raised funds of 5 million euros. It aims to send its high-tech garden into orbit within a space station project from 2025, before positioning itself to support the Artemis space program with a view to installing a base on the Moon.
Strict nutrition criteria
“Feeding astronauts is a first challenge, because freeze-dried food is not enough since it loses its energy value over time,” explains Barbara Belvisi. Researchers are therefore looking at compromise solutions that aim to produce a diet with real products. Above all, the latter must meet three criteria for astrobotanists: “take up a minimum of space, be of high energy value and generate little waste”, she explains.
Thus, mushrooms, rich in protein and vitamin B12, or carrots, which can be eaten entirely, are excellent candidates to accompany astronauts, unlike potatoes whose leaves are considered too large. “We are particularly looking into the study of “microgreens”, like small broccoli sprouts that will offer different tastes when the spectra of light are modulated to make them grow. The goal is to offer a balanced diet, even if freeze-dried foods will always have their place”, summarizes Barbara Belvisi.
The extraordinary adaptability of plants
Especially since over the course of research carried out in particular within the International Space Station, scientists have demonstrated the extraordinary adaptability of plants in space. “Microgravity allows plants to grow faster, these will activate certain genes and deactivate others, where it takes several generations for a human being to do the same. They will even tend to develop more fruits, vegetables and flowers than on Earth”, specifies this entrepreneur.
Still, the conditions must be met to optimize this. This is where the development of a solution like the biopod from Insterstellar Lab comes into play. Before serving as a space garden, this solution will first be deployed this year on Earth to respond to immediate challenges, such as the interest of being able to grow fruit in arid areas or even grow, for example in France plants intended for the cosmetics market usually grown in countries with particular weather conditions. Researchers also want to use this solution to recreate ideal conditions to regrow endangered plants. The biopod will function like a small greenhouse in an autonomous way, by activating CO2 sensors outside the structure to collect it, while inside the oxygen is pumped back. “It’s a self-learning system equipped with sensors to grow plants,” says Barbara Belvisi, who has been passionate about science and robotics since childhood.
Currently being manufactured, the first terrestrial biopods will be delivered by this summer. A first step before leaving for space station projects in low orbit which will make it possible to use almost similar systems. “Here, it’s the water management that changes, since you can’t spray water with a spray, the absence of gravity not allowing air and water to mix. It is therefore necessary to work on this point differently, ”she explains.
Further on, Interstellar Lab is collaborating on the Artemis project, which aims in particular to install a lunar base in the coming years. A project that will serve as a springboard to Mars. Here, the constraints of the biopods will not be the same since it will not be possible to rely on a non-existent atmosphere. “We will rely here on complementary modules which will bring water and air, with an autonomous system, which operates in a vacuum and above all uses little energy”, anticipates Barbara Belvisi who underlines that Mars will present less difficulty . “Its atmosphere is filled with CO2, while minerals from the Martian soil could be useful,” she adds.
Another major challenge is to come up with a system capable of withstanding solar radiation. Here again, the inflatable membrane of the module could act as a bulwark, based on an alternation between water and air cushions. A layer of about forty centimeters would be sufficient, we explain.
And if the challenges to be met are still numerous, including that of the assimilation of calcium by the bones in space, the path of space gardening is promised here to a fascinating future. That of bringing a small piece of Earth to other planets.