What makes Ohio State the ideal location for the NASA Starlab research project?
John Horack, professor at Ohio State University, explains the special characteristics of Ohio State University as a site for Starlab research in the George Washington Carver Science Park.
At first glance, space and agriculture do not seem to fit together.
First, there’s no rain in space. Or soil. Or sunshine, pollinators, and gravity – things that are necessary to grow produce here on Earth. Without those things, there’s little hope of anything growing.
But it is a challenge that space experts, professors, researchers and the commercial industry are trying to address: How do we provide astronauts with food in space?
“This is a really difficult problem,” said John Horack, professor and Neil Armstrong Chair in Aerospace Policy at Ohio State University. “Rain, soil and sunshine are hard to replace and not everyone has a green thumb.”
This dilemma not only impacts current operations, but also represents a limiting factor for future space missions. If there is no food for astronauts, long-term manned space flight is not possible.
One attempt to solve this problem is NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge, the third and final phase of which was co-hosted by Ohio State last week.
Deep Space Food Challenge aims to provide better nutrition for astronauts in space
In 2019, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency launched the Deep Space Food Challenge, a multi-year international competition to develop sustainable food systems for long-term space missions, including to the Moon and Mars.
More than 300 teams from 32 countries participated in the competition and presented their ideas for innovative food systems. The third and final phase of the competition culminated on August 16 in the state of Ohio. The winners of all three phases received a total of $3 million.
“We need a roadmap for the food systems we want to achieve, and this is something that national space agencies cannot do alone,” said Tor Blomqvist, a food researcher at the German Aerospace Center, during one of the panel discussions.
The solution, says Blomqvist, lies in promoting cooperation between the private and public sectors.
The competition wasn’t limited to “space career people,” Horack said. Anyone could enter, from small business owners and academics to farmers and independent inventors (including a Colorado man who built his product in the garage of his home).
Robyn Gatens, chief of space operations for the International Space Station, said the diversity of the competing teams shows the magnitude of this problem and the potential ideas for solving it.
“You never know what ideas are out there,” she said.
Who won NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge?
During the two-day event, students, scientists and government officials discussed in panel discussions how to develop sustainable food systems for long-term human exploration. The seven finalist teams also presented their prototypes, which were tested for eight weeks by “Simunauts” – simulated analog astronauts – from Ohio State University.
The student teams tested each design to determine which could best provide safe, nutritious and delicious food for space missions while reducing waste, resources and labor.
Three teams took home the grand prize: Interstellar Lab received $750,000, while the two semifinalists Nolux and SATED each received $250,000.
Interstellar Labs developed a modular bioregenerative system to produce microgreens, vegetables, mushrooms and insects. The prototype – which looks like nine box-shaped mini-fridges stacked on top of each other like a high-tech Ikea piece of furniture – could be placed on a space station to allow astronauts to grow their own food.
Nolux has developed a product that mimics photosynthesis to grow plant and fungi-based products in space.
SATED (which stands for Safe Appliance, Tidy, Efficient and Delicious) developed a space-grade cooking device that would allow astronauts to cook in zero gravity using non-perishable ingredients. The device was originally invented by Jim Sears in his Colorado garage for mining. He later realized that his invention could have other applications as well.
At the event at Ohio State, Sears’ daughter Roxanne used the machine to whip up several batches of lemon blueberry cake using store-bought cake mix and freeze-dried eggs. It’s a treat, she said, that will remind any astronaut of home.
“My father is just a tech-savvy inventor,” said Roxanne Sears. “But he invented something that allows astronauts to cook and eat in space.”
Ohio State is a pioneer in space agriculture
Ohio State is a hot candidate to host the finals of the Deep Space Food Challenge, Horack said.
Not only does Ohio have a long tradition of manned space flight, the university is also involved in numerous space programs, including the founding of the George Washington Carver Science Park.
The science park, founded by Voyager Space Holdings and Ohio State, will host both commercial and university research projects and will play a key role in the development of Starlab – the first privately owned, commercially operated space station in low Earth orbit.
Starlab will replace the International Space Station, which will be decommissioned in 2030.
Ohio State is also involved in agricultural research that could one day have a direct impact on food supplies in space. For example, greenhouses at the university’s Controlled Environment Agriculture Research Complex are testing hydroponics, a technique that involves growing plants using water-based nutrient solutions instead of soil.
Some of the experiments conducted by researchers and students at Ohio State University resulted in longer growing seasons and yields ten times higher than if the products were simply grown in the soil.
While not all of Ohio State’s agricultural research is geared toward advancing space agriculture, Horack said there are implications both ways. He believes learning how to grow food in space will help future generations grow food on Earth.
“Space is in some ways a whole different realm. It’s a unifying and inspiring place,” Horack said. “But all disciplines can be advanced by using space as a laboratory.”
Sheridan Hendrix is a higher education reporter for The Columbus Dispatch. Sign up for Extra Credit, their education newsletter. Here.
@sheridan120
