A hi-tech vegetable garden to grow micro-vegetables on the Moon: not only are we thinking about space missions but we are already studying how to ensure that the first inhabitants who set foot on our planet permanently will have the opportunity to sit down at the table and eat fresh seasonal vegetables. The green cultivation project on the moon or in extreme environments such as the polar ones focuses on setting up a special 'igloo greenhouse' designed to withstand very low temperatures with the simulation of space missions thanks to advanced immersive virtual reality techniques. This is the challenge of V-GELM (Virtual Greenhouse Experimental Lunar Module), the experimental project that started at the Casaccia Research Center with the aim of developing a lunar cultivation module by combining innovative hydroponic cultivation techniques with virtual experiments to support to the life of astronauts in future long-term missions. The project involves a team of ENEA researchers and students from the Interdepartmental Center for the Territory, Construction, Restoration and Environment (CITERA) and the Sapienza University of Rome and Tuscia.
V-GELM has been selected among the best projects conducted by university teams from all over the world in the framework of the IGLUNA 2020 mission of the European Space Agency (ESA)
Specifically, the project is divided into two phases: the first involved students and researchers, in collaboration with the Mars Planet Society, in the architectural and functional design of the spaces simulated using immersive virtual reality techniques. In the second Hort3 enters the field, the innovative ENEA vegetable garden where the hydroponic cultivation of two particular varieties of radish, Daikon and Rioja, will be tested inside a particular tent called "EGG" due to its particular egg shape, made from the University of Milan.
“The virtual experiment allows the public to be given a realistic interactive perspective suitable for simulating environments, the operations to be performed and also for carrying out ergonomic analyses. In this way it is possible to identify any critical issues right from the start and reduce the costs of developing space modules and training times for astronauts”, underlines Luca Nardi of the ENEA Biotechnology Laboratory.
The module developed by ENEA as part of the Hortspace project, funded by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), consists of a 1 m3 closed-cycle multilevel hydroponic cultivation system with LED lighting where the different species of micro-vegetables are grown, specially selected to reach the ideal growth stage for consumption within 10-15 days.
“It is a soilless cultivation system with water recycling, without the use of pesticides and agropharmaceuticals, able to guarantee the crew members engaged in space missions high quality fresh food and correct nutritional intake – explains Luca Nardi – without forgetting the psychological benefit given by the growth of plants in confined environments, such as those of future extraterrestrial bases or even in extreme environments, such as hot and cold deserts”.
