Container farms tested in Antarctica before going up ... Mars

Antarctica is an area that cannot be cultivated. But since January 2018, researchers at the Neumayer III Institute (Germany), will start planting tomatoes, lettuce, herbs, peppers, cucumbers, radishes, and even strawberries inside containers. insulation here.

Although there are many indoor gardens in Antarctica, the EDEN ISS Mobile Test Facility of Neumayer III will be the most advanced indoor farm in the continent. This is an experiment to go beyond the limits of the agricultural industry in the home, maybe even bring it to . Mars.

On the giant iceberg Ekström Ice Shel f in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the greenhouse farm will survive under the cold, dark and extremely low humidity conditions of Antarctica.

EDEN ISS Mobile Test Facility.

On the outside, the structure of the farm looked quite simple, just a container from top to bottom 6 meters long. But inside, this is a high-tech oasis that can produce up to 3 quintals of vegetables annually.

This indoor farm is based on a landless farming system called aeroponics. The system was first introduced in the 1920s and uses extremely efficient water, up to 98% less water than the farming model.

Plants grow in a tray on the shelf, roots in a closed chamber. At regular intervals, the roots will be sprayed with water, mist and nutrients. The excess water will be retained for the next cycle.

A sensor that tracks nutrition levels sends data to the computer. The computer will analyze nutrient mixtures for plants and adjust accordingly based on plant growth and development.

The cameras will monitor the growth of plants, while other sensors will monitor temperature, humidity and CO ₂ concentrations. The collected data will be sent to a computer to adjust accordingly.

Air filters will remove bacteria and fungi, an ultraviolet lamp will sterilize the air and kill any creature that escapes the filters. Because the environment has been sterilized, the farm does not need to use pesticides.

Plants growing under the LED system shine blue, red and white light. When these lights combine, the farm is engulfed in purple light. The lights are turned on for 16 hours a day and turned off for the remaining 8 hours to simulate the night.

This indoor farm is currently being transported to Cape Town, South Africa. Here this greenhouse farm will be transported to another ship and is expected to arrive in Antarctica on 24/12/2017.

EDEN ISS researcher Matthew Bamsey and colleagues, and space scientist Paul Zabel, will be on hand to oversee the process on the iceberg.

The container farm is not located directly on the ice, but placed on a 2.5-meter-high shelf to avoid snow cover. The farm consists of 2 containers, one for storing crops and one for containing control systems.

After seven weeks, most scientists will return home, except Paul Zabel, who will stay with 9 other researchers.

Scientists are working on growing vegetables in container farms.

Here, Zabel will ensure systems operate smoothly, prune trees, harvest when big trees and send samples to laboratories. According to Matthew Bamsey, tree care has a good psychological effect on Zabel and others.

One of the goals of this project is to conquer extraterrestrial space to improve the spiritual life for astronauts.

'We don't want an astronaut to work 16 hours a day in a glass cage , ' says Matthew Bamsey.

A study shows that for people living in remote areas like Antarctica, interacting with plants, taking care of them or simply looking at them growing up, can improve people's psychology.

Specifically, it was a study in Korea in 2013. The team built an indoor vegetable garden at King Sejong Station, Antarctica. The results showed that 83% of the station staff believed that garden plants had a 'very useful' or 'quite useful' effect on their psychology.

The spiritual benefits of the trees in Antarctica began to be acknowledged since 1902. The Continental Explorers Group led by Robert Falcon Scott planted the sprouts and mustard plants on the buoys under self-light. Of course.

In some articles, members of the expedition acknowledged that these crops, along with the effort and time to take care of them, helped them improve their morale much better. Some of them shared that it was the first time they had eaten fresh vegetables in the past two years.

Greenhouse farm projects are funded until the end of 2018. This test will show the amount of time needed for cultivation and harvesting. In 2018, the research team will find the answer. Plant samples will be sent to a European laboratory for nutritional testing.

If there are no problems, researchers will continue a new crop.