Astronauts who work on the International Space Station (ISS) often have to stay in space for 6 months. Astronauts going to Mars have to be in space for up to a year. While in space, astronauts begin to miss their lives on Earth. Lack of fresh food diminishes their appetite and they begin to lose weight. Growing food in space is a psychological need for the astronauts. The challenge of growing plants in space is that there is a lack of nutrients in the air such as nitrogen, a must have for plants. Their is also no gravity which confuses the flow of water and nutrients.

Despite the obstacles, astronauts have managed grow lettuce using lava rock as soil. As a supplement for the missing nutrients, the astronauts grew the plants in a water infused with the nutrients. They are currently working on growing beans. Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) are working on making high tech planters that control the water, air and nutrients of the plants grown. These sophisticated planters will be essential to the astronaut’s life.

Source: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20190105/High-tech-planters-for-growing-food-in-space.aspx