Tomatoes from the ice
n the middle of Antarctica, researchers at the German Aerospace Center are cultivating tomatoes, peppers and all kinds of other vegetables. They are testing innovative cultivation methods to make food supplies for long-term space missions less dependent on provisions.
From the eternal ice to the eternal expanse
In the middle of Antarctica, it's greening. What sounds like "fake news" is reality and has a forward-looking significance. Because near the Alfred Wegener Institute's (AWI) Neumayer III Antarctic Station, the EDEN ISS greenhouse has been standing since 2018. In the polar night, tomatoes, peppers, lettuces and herbs, among others, thrive there with the help of artificial light, effective nutrient solutions, but completely without soil. The focus is on growing plants that have a high water content and cannot be stored for long.
Der Garten Eden in der Kälte: Das Gewächshaus EDEN ISS im antarktischen Einsatz. Foto: DLR/NASA/Bunchek
For the operation, plant scientist Jess Bunchek from the Kennedy Space Center of the U.S. space agency NASA was a guest researcher in the ice last year. In the joint mission of DLR and NASA, she explored how astronauts can grow lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and herbs using as little time and energy as possible and put greenhouse technology to the test. She also recorded how the green habitat and its fruits affect the isolated hibernation crew in perpetual ice.
Was braucht es noch für ein zünftige Brotzeit? Radieschen gibt es dafür schon einmal im Ewigen Eis. Foto: DLR
Welcome to Photonworld – a platform for knowledge, interesting facts and science on the topic of light. Photonworld aims to provide a basic understanding of the physics of light and its countless phenomena. From medicine, to art and physics: all topics are covered.
Photonworld originated as an initiative of the excellence cluster the Munich-Centre for Advanced Photonics (MAP) and the Laboratory for Attosecond Physics (LAP) at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ).
The initiator of the project is Prof. Dr. Ferenc Krausz, Chair of Experimental Physics at the LMU and Director of the MPQ.
Photonworld’s Student Zone reports directly out of the PhotonLab, which is supported by the Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (MCQST) and the DFG Research Unit FOR 2783. At the PhotonLab, schoolteachers and students can find up-to-date information about experiments and goings-on at the lab, and plan their own visit to the laboratory.
