Why It's So Hard To Grow Plants In Space?

Plants are all about survival and nature, so if you think about it, allowing plants to grow in space is actually very interesting in many ways. Space is a harsh place for most things, both for humans and for plants. In fact, if left alone in space we all probably die from lack of oxygen, not to mention the radiation exposure. So how can you grow plants in space?

One of the most widely discussed issues in space travel is the difficulty in growing plants. It's not so much about growing them, but getting them to survive and thrive on other planets with similar environmental conditions. It's no joke - there are astronauts who have tried their best to grow plants in space, and failed spectacularly. In fact, NASA has lost hundreds of dollars' worth of plants after they were dropped into space by astronauts.

It takes a lot of expensive equipment to grow plants in space

1.Gravity

Plants are not exactly engineered for life in outer space. They're not equipped with a way to absorb the sun's energy, like plants on Earth. They don't have roots to hold onto the ground. And they don't have leaves or stems to bend toward light.

Plants have evolved over billions of years to survive on Earth's surface, with all its gravity and light, but they've had to adapt to a wide range of environments. Plants that live near water or high up in mountains have different needs than ones that grow in deserts or on mountaintops.

The same is true for plants in space: they need gravity and sunlight, but they also need other factors that aren't present on Earth — like air circulation and water — to thrive."

2.The High-Tech Plant Lab

For years, NASA has been working on ways to grow plants in space. The problem is that growing plants in space is hard. It requires special equipment, such as hydroponic systems, which have to be carefully maintained at all times. And even if you can grow enough food for your astronauts for a year, there's still the question of how you're going to get it down to Earth when they land. NASA has come up with a solution: a greenhouse made out of 3D printed plastic.

The idea is brilliant and very simple: take a 3D printer and print out the structure of the greenhouse, then add some soil and seeds inside. The only thing left to do is monitor the plants' progress in real time while they're growing inside the structure, so you can see how long before they'll be ready for harvest or planting elsewhere on Earth.*

3.Expensive infrastructure

Plants are expensive to grow. The water, fertilizer and soil must be carefully measured out and delivered to the plant in small doses so that it can continue to grow.

The same is true for astronauts. They need food and oxygen, which is delivered through a complicated system of pipes and filters. The crew also needs to take regular breaks in order to keep their muscles working properly.

All of these things cost money — a lot of money. And not just because they're space-bound; they're also expensive on Earth because they require specialized machinery and fuel.

And while we're talking about food production in space, let's not forget that it takes time to grow plants. That's another expense that doesn't come cheap: Launching seeds into orbit takes months or years of preparation before they can even be planted.

4. More difficult planning

Growing plants in space is a difficult and time-consuming process. The first challenge is to find out what kind of plant you want to grow. Most plants need light, water, and nutrients to survive. But some plants prefer more warmth or less light than others. Once you know the type of plant you want to grow, you need to plan where it will live and how it will be fed.

The next step is finding out how much food it needs each day. This can be tricky because plants vary widely in size and needs. Some need 10 times more water than others do. If a plant isn't getting enough water, it may die before you get it up there!

Then comes the hard part: figuring out what kind of soil you need for your plant's roots to grow healthy new roots when they arrive on Mars!

Conclusion:

If you still think that growing plants in space is easy, then these "contradictions" may give you a better understanding why it is so hard to grow them there.

Growing plants in space is not as easy as it may seem. The right environment is needed, which can be difficult to provide.

While growing plants in microgravity seem like a tantalizing idea due to its novelty, the requirement of maintaining a healthy plant and high yield output that is needed for profit will be challenging to achieve.

You already know that growing plants in space is difficult, but if you think it can't get any harder, then you need to see the limited resources that plants and humans will be surrounded by in space.

In the future, we might be able to grow plants on other planets. But that's a long way off. For now, space scientists have to figure out how to grow plants in space. And that means figuring out new ways of providing plants with what they need to grow.