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NASA research brings agriculture technology

Agriculture studies for space travel are resulting in useful technology for agriculture on earth.

At Bayer’s 2018 Future of Farming Dialogue a NASA scientist spoke about a device that can show the ions in a nutrient solution for hydroponic plants instantaneously.

“This is something that was originally developed for space flight, but this can be used modularly in any type of greenhouse environment on the world.”

Connor Kiselchuk is this year’s recipient of the Jeff Schell Fellowship from Bayer Science and Education Foundation. He says many studies are done at NASA to condense food for long period space travel and make those foods healthier.

Kiselchuk says The Gateway space station launch in 2020 is expected to bring more agricultural discoveries.

“When we are growing on the ISS (International Space Station), it’s in low earth orbit. It is protected from harmful radiation by the earth’s atmosphere. We really don’t have that much information on what high levels of radiation can do to not only the human body, but also plant genetics.”

Kiselchuk, with NASA’s on-orbit plant production team, tells Brownfield those areas of scientific research will grow tremendously in the next couple of years.

Audio: Presentation by Connor Kiselchuk