Guelph scientists figuring out how to grow crops in space

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Scientists in Guelph are setting the groundwork for extraterrestrial farming, the Hamilton News reports.

Sponsored by both the Canadian and European Space Agencies, scientists at the University of Guelph's Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility (CESRF) are discovering how people might grow crops in space. Using 14 hypobaric chambers CESRF scientists are able to test how plants react to many factors – such as changes in atmospheric pressure, light and availability of carbon dioxide – that would be considerations in space. According to the CBC, CESRF's research can also be adapted for use on Earth, notably for farming in harsher climates like Kuwait or the Canadian North.

Professor and CESRF director Mike Dixon thinks that farming on Mars is not that far off. According to the Hamilton News, in his talks to schools, "I tell them that the Canadian horticultural mission specialist on the first trip to Mars is in Grade 3 today." BF