The Plant Health Monitoring System of the EDEN ISS Space Greenhouse in Antarctica during the 2018 experiment phase

In a recent study focused on growing plants in space for food production during long-term missions to the Moon and Mars, researchers have made significant progress that could greatly benefit human health and daily life here on Earth as well. The experiment aimed at producing crops like Batavia lettuce was carried out aboard the EDEN ISS project using a special setup designed for space conditions. The results were promising! Compared to previous experiments, this study showed that it's possible to grow these plants in microgravity and still get good yields of fresh produce with minimal resources-a big deal when we think about growing food on other planets or during long-haul trips beyond Earth. Not only did the crops provide a source of nutrition, but they also helped maintain air quality by producing oxygen while removing carbon dioxide from their surrsessed environment - all without using much water! This research could lead to more efficient ways for us humans living on distant planets or during long space journeys.

The EDEN ISS project has been instrumental in advancing the science of growing crops for food production during human space missions, with a focus on reducing resupply mass from Earth and thus long-term mission costs. This study presents an extensive analysis comparing crop yields under various conditions aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Methodology: The research conducted by Zabel et al., funded through Horizon 2020, involved a series of experiments to assess biomass production using different plant species. Batavia lettuce was grown in batches with varying expertise levels and pruning types under controlled environmental conditions at the German Neumayer Station III near Antarctica as an analog for space-like environments on Earth. Key Findings: The study reported that batavia, when cultivated using a high level of expertise (0.065 kg/(m²*d)), yielded more biomass compared to the same species grown with lower levels of expertise and different pruning types under similar environmental conditions as measured by Meinen et al. in 2018, which showed yields ranging from 0.