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Earlier this month, NASA astronaut Kate Rubins photographed the first major milestone of the Plant Habitat-02 (PH-02) experiment aboard the International Space Station. The survey studies the growth of radishes in a microgravity environment. NASA chose radish because it is a model plant: both nutritious and edible, with a short growing time and being genetically similar to Arabidopsis, a plant frequently studied in microgravity conditions.
Growing within her Advanced Plant Habitat for 27 days, the plants require little maintenance from the crew. The growth chamber contains LED lights, a porous clay material and a controlled fertilizer release system to deliver water, nutrients and oxygen to the plant’s roots. The cameras and more than 180 sensors in the chamber allow researchers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to monitor plant growth and regulate conditions such as water distribution, humidity levels and temperature.
Read the full article on Scitechdaily.com
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