Vol 2 Chapter 1187: Our goal is to grow vegetables in space

In addition to this inflatable inflatable space capsule itself, the space farm experimental project carried in this inflatable inflatable space capsule has attracted everyone's most attention.

According to related plans, the inflatable inflatable space capsule was successfully sent into space and inflated, and the space farm project was launched immediately.

This time, there are more than 20 kinds of plant seeds accompanying the spacecraft into space. In addition to some vegetables, there are also some wheat and rice, corn, and potatoes and sweet potatoes.

In addition to plants, this time there are several protein-rich insects and some microorganisms to build a complete space ecosystem at a time.

According to the plan, this inflatable inflatable space capsule will autonomously fly in space for seven to eight months to verify the reliability of the inflatable inflatable space capsule itself.

In addition, it is about whether the experimental space farm and the space ecosystem constructed are feasible.

You know, the food problem has always been one of the most important problems that plagued us as humans go to space. At present, all the astronauts on all the spacecraft of mankind depend on supplies from the earth to survive.

Every period of time, the cargo spacecraft carrying these many materials will take off, docking with the space station, and transporting important materials to the space station, such as the most important water and food for astronauts. This almost occupies more than half or even more of the capacity and space of the entire cargo spacecraft.

In the future, humans will land on other planets, such as the moon, Mars, and even distant planets like Enceladus.

It is a bit unrealistic, unreliable, and costly to rely on supplies from the earth. Therefore, adapting measures to local conditions and self-reliance are currently the focus of research by scientists.

For example, in the sci-fi movie "The Martian", the actor survived by growing potatoes on Mars.

At present, according to relevant surveys, there will be water in the south pole of the moon and landmarks on Mars.

In the south pole of the moon, there are a large number of glaciers and frozen soil, which contain considerable reserves of water resources, enough for humans to use on it.

On the surface of Mars, according to NASA's latest exploration research results, there is liquid water that changes with the seasons on the surface of Mars.

And in the South Pole of Mars, there are also abundant glaciers and frozen soil, and the water resources reserves are also very considerable.

With water resources, this has laid the foundation for human survival. In addition to being used by astronauts, water can also be used as fuel.

The decomposed hydrogen can be used for rocket fuel, and the separated oxygen can not only satisfy human breathing, but also act as a combustion aid.

Even hydrogen gas combines with carbon dioxide breathed by humans and carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere to generate another high-quality fuel, methane, which is also a very ideal fuel for spacecraft propulsion.

With water and soil, can humans grow food and vegetables on these alien planets?

No, it's far from that simple.

Whether it is the moon or Mars, it is very desolate, the soil has no nutrients, how can plants be grown.

So if you want to grow plants, you must improve the soil. But this was not completed in a short time, so scientists focused their attention on soilless cultivation techniques.

The so-called soilless culture is simply not suitable for soil, but water planting with nutrient solution or air planting.

This kind of soilless culture technology, especially the nutrient solution culture technology is very simple and practical, and has already entered our dining table. At present, many vegetables in supermarkets are basically from suburban plant factories, using soilless cultivation techniques and hydroponics.

This is why you can see that many fresh vegetables in the supermarket are very clean with no dirt on them.

And one of the biggest advantages of this kind of plant factory is that it can not be affected by the outside climate, and the internal environment of the factory can be adjusted at any time according to needs, including temperature, humidity, light, etc., and it can not be affected by the change of seasons, and it can cultivate vegetables without interruption. .

And these plants can also absorb a lot of carbon dioxide, release a lot of oxygen, and can support human survival.

So now scientists hope to apply this technology to the exploration of outer space and other planets to cultivate sufficient rations for astronauts so that they can solve the food problem by themselves.

But in theory, the idea of ​​this technology is completely feasible. But in actual operation, many problems were encountered.

Scientists once simulated a closed space environment on the earth, hoping to build a closed ecosystem that is isolated from the world, and then let some volunteers live in.

The experiment was originally planned for one year, but these people couldn't stand it for more than two hundred days. The reason is that there is a problem in the entire ecosystem, which prevents volunteers from living.

The space farm project that Wu Hao and the others tested this time also wanted to explore this field, so as to pursue the ambitious goal of mankind's long-term survival in space and on different planets. UU reading www. uukahnshu.cOM

For Wu Hao and others, it is not easy to grow vegetables in space. It's not as simple as some space experiments, just cultivating a few seeds to germinate.

First of all, this inflatable and inflatable space capsule is designed for people to enter and even live. But this is the first test phase, and for safety reasons, it is naturally impossible to have anyone.

Once Wu Hao and the others planned to connect this inflatable and inflatable space capsule with our own space station. This would make it a lot more convenient and allow more experiments and tests.

However, for the sake of safety, the relevant departments and the expert group rejected their request after many discussions and consultations.

After all, it is related to the great cause of space development, the safety of the hundreds of billions of space stations, and the lives of several astronauts, so we have to be conservative.

Therefore, this inflatable inflatable space capsule operates independently in space, and all operations of the space farm in this inflatable inflatable space capsule rely on two self-developed intelligent robotic arms to follow Program operation, or remote control operation.

In this way, the difficulty of the experiment is greatly increased.

Here, the space is always in a state, and this adds to the difficulty of setting up the entire space farm, followed by the cultivation and daily care of so many plants, which is also very difficult.

And a more difficult task is to pick some vegetable leaves, and then feed those kinds of insects.

In the weightless suspended space, everything becomes difficult, not to mention this kind of meticulous work.