the interesting plants seem to need more light
I have been reading up on it but everyone thinks your a hydroponic MJ grower
I found a fascinating article from NASA from 2001.
You would think the technology would have moved on even from then
I have tried to track down more info but with much luck
It would be nice to just plug in wide-spectrum lights to my standard old house fittings.
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And while a human expedition outside Earth orbit still might be years away, the space farming efforts are ultimately aimed at developing artificial light sources that promise to help make future explorers self-sufficient at space colonies on the moon, Mars or beyond.
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Leafy Green Astronauts
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"We know for a long-duration mission, say going to Mars, that there will be too much launch mass involved in order to take everything you need," said Gregory Goins, a research scientist with Dynamac Corp., the life sciences contractor here at NASA's coastal Florida spaceport.
"You just can't put enough in the picnic basket to survive."
So Goins and other Space Age gardeners are testing two high-efficiency light sources that future space colonists might use not only to grow food but also to generate and purify oxygen and water -- key sustainers of human life.
The removal of carbon dioxide from a closed environment is another added benefit.
"Plants are the only way we know of where we can generate enough food, water and oxygen to support humans for such a long flight because we know re-supply is not an option. And so plants are a very appealing approach to use," Goins said.
"But in order to use plants, you must have an energy source, and that energy source is light," he added. "And the lights we use in our homes are not energy efficient enough to get the job done. So that's why we're developing these innovative technology lights."
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"Standard light sources that we use in homes and in greenhouses and in growth chambers for controlled agriculture here on Earth are not efficient enough for space travel. Not only that, they don't last a very long time," Goins said.
"And in space, heat is like trash. You make it, and you've got to get rid of it, so we don't want heat. We want light."
In recent years, dramatic improvements in lighting technology have provided NASA and its support contractors with new means to develop low-power space-farming systems that will last the life of a building -- or a greenhouse on the surface of Mars.
Working in plant growth chambers the size of walk-in refrigerators, Goins and other plant physiologists here are experimenting with blue and red Light Emitting Diodes, or LEDs, to grow salad plants such as lettuce and radishes.
Similar to devices now used to manufacture advanced traffic lights, the LEDs enable researchers to eliminate other wavelengths found within normal white light, thus reducing the amount of energy required to power the plant growth lamps.
The LEDs generate less heat, and while leaves take on a black hue due to the lack of green light to reflect, the plants grow normally and taste the same as those raised in white light.
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Another bonus: The LEDs can last the length of a round-trip mission to Mars, unlike incandescent or fluorescent bulbs, which require frequent replacement.
Research scientist Greg Goins of Dynamac Corp. demonstrates the sulfur microwave lamp that provides continuous broad spectrum white light to plants. It can be adjusted to be twice the brightness of the noon sun on earth. © 2001, Tim Shortt, FLORIDA TODAY.
A second long-lasting light source being tested here: Sulfur Microwave Lamps.
Twice as efficient as other high-intensity sources, the microwave lamps can generate as much light as the noonday sun. The light in fact is so bright that it can be funneled through pipes and then distributed over large areas, such as a hothouse on the Martian highlands.
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Lettuce and LEDs: Shedding New Light On Space Farming
Has anyone heard of this technology?
Has it gone anywhere? The above article is over 6 years old.
Is it commercially available?
I would imagine the lights would use small amounts of power or could run on solar panels(?)
It would not only be good for my house but would help get a lot more plants into offices and also more interesting varieties into Commercial Buildings.
You may even be able to grow your own lunch!
Would it also solve our vitamin D deficiency problems?
