Agriculture in space is closer to Earth with robotics and vegetable gardens in weightlessness

The Agriculture Department of the University of Naples, in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (Asi) and the European Space Agency (Esa), has been engaged in the study of these in-orbit cultivation systems for over twenty years. With La Sapienza of Rome, it has developed a vegetable garden on board a micro-satellite that was launched from the Kourou base in French Guyana. At more than 6,000 km from earth, it represented the farthest vegetable garden. And on the international space station (Iss, only 400 km from earth) there is already 'Veggie', a space garden with the aim of studying plant growth in microgravity, while adding fresh food to the astronauts' diet.

'Clearly, when we talk about longer missions,' De Pascale specifies, 'we need to think about crops that have a higher nutritional value than salads, the so-called staple crops on earth. These include potatoes, soya and rice. With Thales Alenia Space in Turin, we are working on a modular unit for growing potato tubers in microgravity on board the international space station. In particular, we are looking for the most suitable cultivar. Again with Asi and La Sapienza, we are also developing rice plants specifically improved and adapted for the space environment'. Cultivars and cultivation solutions that would then also be used on Earth in areas unsuitable for cultivation, such as deserts, the poles or megacities.

The 'Melissa' (Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative) project, on the other hand, which has engaged Esa for more than 30 years, studies regenerative life support systems, which aim for the highest degree of autonomy and thus produce food, water and oxygen from mission waste. Italy is a reference point for the study of plants precisely. The aim is to bring mankind to produce food on the Moon, or rather on Mars, since the possibility of life on what is considered a twin planet has been investigated for at least 25 years now.

But for those who cannot wait for the conquest of space, there isthe possibility of dining at the first starred restaurant in orbit. There are six seats on the spacecraft and they can already be booked for the debut launch in 2025, although the cost is decidedly out of the ordinary: around 450,000 euros. The trip - carbon neutral - is proposed by the luxury space travel company SpaceVIP and will last six hours at an altitude of 30 thousand metres. It will include a set menu with dishes created by Danish chef Rasmus Munk, whose restaurant Alchemist in Copenhagen was awarded two Michelin stars in 2021. The proceeds of the expedition will go to an association that supports gender equality in science and technology.