Plan(e)t Osiris

"Advanced Plant Habitat"

• 1)fully enclosed, closed-loop system with an environmentally controlled growth chamber.

The plant habitat uses red, blue, and green LED lights and broad-spectrum white LED lights.

The system contains more than 180 sensors, relaying real-time information, including temperature, oxygen content, and moisture levels (in the air and soil, near the plant roots, and at the stem and leaf level), back to the team at Kennedy. 

• Advanced Plant Habitat Components

Structural Mounting Assembly • Air Filtration Assembly (provides filtered air to the system) • Plant Habitat Facility Kits (includes hoses, water bags, syringes) • Science Carrier (the tray that the plants will grow in) • Growth Chamber (enclosed volume that the plants will grow in) • Environmental Control System (ECS) (Growth Chamber temperature, humidity, and airflow control) • Fluid International Subrack Interface Standard Drawer (contains the carbon dioxide bottles, water reservoirs, and gaseous nitrogen regulation) • Orbital Replacement Unit Component Drawer (water distribution system, power system, and main computer, or PHARMER) • Growth Light Assembly (lighting system)

"Veggie"

• 70 watts for the lights, fans, and control electronics.
• utilizes passive wicking to provide water to the plants as they grow.
• seeds embedded in a tape or film, which would allow seeds and pillows to fly independently. The space station could have a seed bank and a plant pillow bank, which would allow crews to decide what to grow
• Growing plants in microgravity is complicated by the fluid physics and lack of convective flow.
•  the Veggie team also developed a produce-sanitizing step for leafy greens utilizing food-safe, citric acid-based wipes that are used to sanitize the fresh produce and also clean the Veggie units.
• When tomatoes are grown in space, crew members will need to pollinate the flowers to produce fruit.

"Cut and Come Again” where the astronaut will only harvest the outer leaves allowing for an attempt at a longer growth of the plants

• Each plant grows in a “pillow” filled with clay-based growth media and fertilizer. The pillows are important to help distribute water, nutrients, and air in a healthy balance around the roots