[inquisitive music]
all: "Our World."
[laughter]
- Did you know that plants are living things
just like you and me?
They also need water and nutrients,
or food, to survive.
But what else do plants need to grow?
- Plants need five important things to grow.
They need water.
They need nutrients.
They need light.
They need temperature.
And they need atmosphere.
And all of these five things
have to be within a particular range
for plants to survive and thrive,
no matter where they're growing.
Humans need plants because they provide
a lot of the things that we need to survive.
They provide oxygen
as a byproduct of their photosynthesis.
And they provide food
in the form of carbohydrates,
proteins,
and other nutrients that we need to eat.
Plants also provide fiber,
which can be turned into fabric.
They can be a source of fuel,
building materials.
And they can even provide medicines.
- Plants, just like humans,
have special needs to live and grow.
But those things don't exist in space,
so how are the astronauts on the International Space Station
growing plants in space?
- On the International Space Station,
we're growing plants inside the habitat.
And we use growth chambers in this environment.
Water and air don't mix well in space.
And so, watering your plants is really challenging.
And so, we use a substrate
to help get water and air to the roots.
And the astronauts actually water the plants,
or we can use a pump to put water into that substrate.
A substrate is something that plants can grow in.
And in space, we're using baked clay chips.
This is the same material
that we use here on Earth on sports fields.
- So that's how plants grow on the space station!
But let's branch out.
Is it possible to grow plants on the moon or Mars?
- Plant growth in space
is going to require a lot of innovation.
Different technologies and different approaches
are gonna be important to growing plants in space,
and they may also be useful
for growing plants more efficiently on Earth.
Someday, we may be able to use lunar regolith,
which is essentially moon dirt, to grow plants.
We also think we'll be able to grow plants on Mars.
There is an atmosphere on Mars,
but it's too cold and too thin
to grow plants outdoors on Mars.
So again, we'll be growing plants inside in a habitat.
We'll again see if we can use the Mars regolith,
or Mars dirt, to grow plants,
because there are some minerals
that our Mars rovers have detected
that could act as a fertilizer.
On Earth, we have bees and other insects
that act as pollinators.
And we also have wind.
Plants like tomatoes or peppers produce fruit,
and you have to have flowers that get pollinated
to make fruit.
In space, we don't have any of those things.
So for the space station and then the moon and Mars,
we'll either have the astronauts pollinate,
wind, or vibration,
or we may actually have robots pollinating our plants.
- So we know that plants can be grown in space
and possibly on the moon and Mars,
but what do we need to make that happen?
- To grow plants in space, you have to set up the conditions
for a plant to grow:
things like a controlled environment
that maintains the temperature,
humidity, provides lighting and irrigation.
All the things that make a plant grow on Earth,
we have to simulate it and make it available
for the plants to grow in space as well.
One of the biggest things that I work on here
at Kennedy Space Center is to develop systems
that would provide the water
for the plants to grow in microgravity
that doesn't allow the moisture to float everywhere.
We have two plant growth systems
on the International Space Station.
One of them is Veggie.
Veggie is essentially a light with a bellows bag.
And it's an open system, which means that it's open
to the environment that the astronauts live in.
A closed system is a controlled environment
that maintains temperature,
humidity, carbon dioxide.
It maintains the lighting,
and it provides irrigation for the plants to grow.
This closed system is a lot like
the advanced plant habitat that we have
on the International Space Station as well.
- Now we know that we can grow plants in space
and how astronauts are doing exactly that.
But why is it important
for them to even grow plants anyway?
- Wherever people have traveled,
we've taken plants with us
to provide the food that we need on the journey
and when we get there.
And it's no different as we go to the moon
or as we go on to Mars.
I think plants are also gonna be
an important connection to Earth for these astronauts
who are venturing out to the moon and Mars.
They'll want to keep in touch
with this beautiful planet that we live on.
- Plants are clearly important
to all living things here in our world,
but also to the astronauts in space.
That's why NASA scientists and engineers
are working together to learn more
about how plants live, grow, and adapt
in all different sorts of environments.
Now that's some "STEM" education.
Well, it's time for me to "leaf."
"Seed" you next time!
all: "Our World." [laughter]