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Space News Update — March 1, 2016 —

Contents

In the News

Story 1:

ExoMars 2016 Orbiter and Lander Mated for March Launch

Story 2:

Supermassive Black Holes Banish Matter into Cosmic Voids

Story 3:

MAVEN Observes Mars Moon Phobos in the Mid- and Far-Ultraviolet

Departments

The Night Sky

ISS Sighting Opportunities

NASA-TV Highlights

Space Calendar

Food for Thought

Space Image of the Week

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1. ExoMars 2016 Orbiter and Lander Mated for March Launch

ExoMars Schiaparelli lander being mated with the Trace Gas Orbiter on 12 February 2016. Credit: ESA – B. Bethge

Earth’s lone mission to the Red Planet this year has now been assembled into launch configuration and all

preparations are currently on target to support blastoff from Baikonur at the opening of the launch window on

March 14, 2016. The launch window extends until March 25.

The ambitious ExoMars 2016 mission is comprised of a pair of European spacecraft named the Trace Gas

Orbiter (TGO) and the Schiaparelli lander, built and funded by the European Space Agency (ESA).

The duo have now been assembled and mated by technicians into their final launch configuration, working in a

clean room at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, for launch atop a Russian Proton rocket.

“The main objectives of this mission are to search for evidence of methane and other trace atmospheric gases

that could be signatures of active biological or geological processes and to test key technologies in preparation

for ESA’s contribution to subsequent missions to Mars,” says ESA.

After launch the pair will remain joined for the seven month long interplanetary journey to Mars until 16

October, at which time the Schiaparelli entry, descent and landing (EDL) demonstrator module will separate

from the orbiter.

Three days later on October 19, TGO is slated to enter Mars orbit and Schiaparelli will begin its plummet

through the thin Martian atmosphere and hoped for soft landing.

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The mating operations commenced on February 12 with the hydrazine fueled lander in a mounting platform

surrounding the orbiter that “facilitates the activities that need to be done about 4 meters off the ground,”

according to ESA officials.

Over the following days, technicians then completed all the critical connections between the two spacecraft

and conducted function tests to insure that all systems were operating as expected.

Specialists from the Airbus Defence and Space team also bonded the final few thermal protection tiles onto

Schiaparelli. Several spots remained open during the mating operation to allow for equipment hooks to latch

on and maneuver the spacecraft. With those tasks done, technician can apply the finishing touches.

The ExoMars spacecraft will join ESA’s only other Red Planet probe – the Mars Express orbiter – which arrived

in 2004 and continues to function well to this day.

The ExoMars 2016 orbiter is equipped with a payload of four science instruments. It will investigate the source

and precisely measure the quantity of the methane and other trace gases.

The orbiter was built in Europe and the instruments are provided by European and Russian scientists.

Methane (CH4) gas is the simplest organic molecule and very low levels have reportedly been detected in the

thin Martian atmosphere. But the data are not certain and its origin is not clear cut.

Methane could be a marker either for active living organisms today or it could originate from non-life geologic

processes. On Earth more than 90% of the methane originates from biological sources.

The 2016 lander will carry an international suite of science instruments and test European landing technologies

for the 2nd ExoMars mission.

The 2018 ExoMars mission will deliver an advanced rover to the Red Planet’s surface. It is equipped with the

first ever deep driller that can collect samples to depths of 2 meters where the environment is shielded from

the harsh conditions on the surface – namely the constant bombardment of cosmic radiation and the presence

of strong oxidants like perchlorates that can destroy organic molecules.

Source: Universe Today Return to Contents

ExoMars 2016: Trace Gas Orbiter and Schiaparelli. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab

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2. Supermassive Black Holes Banish Matter into Cosmic Voids

This animation still shows a slab cut from the cube generated by the Illustris computer simulation. The distribution of

normal, or baryonic matter, is shown in red over a width and height of 350 million light-years and a thickness of 300,000

light-years. The grey image shows the distribution of dark matter in the same slice of data. Galaxies are found in the

small, white, high-density dots. Click the graphic for a full-size image. Image credit: Markus Haider / Illustris

collaboration. AN animation: Ade Ashford.

We live in a universe dominated by unseen matter, and on the largest scales, galaxies and everything they

contain are concentrated into filaments that stretch around the edge of enormous voids. Thought to be almost

empty until now, a group of astronomers based in Austria, Germany and the United States now believe these

dark holes could contain as much as 20 percent of the ‘normal’ matter in the cosmos and that galaxies make

up only 1/500th of the volume of the universe. The team, led by Dr. Markus Haider of the Institute of Astro-

and Particle Physics at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, publish their results in a new paper in Monthly

Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Looking at cosmic microwave radiation, modern satellite observatories like COBE, WMAP and Planck have

gradually refined our understanding of the composition of the universe, and the most recent measurements

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suggest it consists of 4.9 percent ‘normal’ matter (i.e., the matter that makes up stars, planets, gas and dust),

or ‘baryons,’ whereas 26.8 percent is the mysterious and unseen ‘dark’ matter, and 68.3 percent is the even

more mysterious ‘dark energy.’

Complementing these missions, ground-based observatories have mapped the positions of galaxies and,

indirectly, their associated dark matter over large volumes, showing that they are located in filaments that

make up a ‘cosmic web.’ Haider and his team investigated this in more detail, using data from the Illustris

project, a large computer simulation of the evolution and formation of galaxies, to measure the mass and

volume of these filaments and the galaxies within them.

Illustris simulates a cube of space in the universe, measuring some 350 million light-years on each side. It

starts when the universe was just 12 million years old, a small fraction of its current age, and tracks how

gravity and the flow of matter changes the structure of the cosmos up to the present day. The simulation

deals with both normal and dark matter, with the most important effect being the gravitational pull of the dark

matter.

When the scientists looked at the data, they found that about 50 percent of the total mass of the universe is in

the places where galaxies reside, compressed into a volume of 0.2 percent of the universe we see, and a

further 44 percent is in the enveloping filaments. Just 6 percent is located in the voids, which make up

80 percent of the volume.

But Haider’s team also found that a surprising fraction of normal matter — 20 percent — is likely to have been

transported into the voids. The culprit appears to be the supermassive black holes found in the centers of

galaxies. Some of the matter falling towards the holes is converted into energy. This energy is delivered to the

surrounding gas, and leads to large outflows of matter, which stretch for hundreds of thousands of light-years

from the black holes, reaching far beyond the extent of their host galaxies.

Apart from filling the voids with more matter than thought, the result might help explain the missing baryon

problem, where astronomers do not see the amount of normal matter predicted by their models.

Dr. Haider comments: “This simulation, one of the most sophisticated ever run, suggests that the black holes

at the center of every galaxy are helping to send matter into the loneliest places in the universe. What we

want to do now is refine our model, and confirm these initial findings.”

Illustris is now running new simulations, and results from these should be available in a few months, with the

researchers keen to see whether for example their understanding of black hole output is right. Whatever the

outcome, it will be hard to see the matter in the voids, as this is likely to be very tenuous, and too cool to emit

the X-rays that would make it detectable by satellites.

Source: Royal Astronomy Society Return to Contents

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3. MAVEN Observes Mars Moon Phobos in the Mid- and Far-Ultraviolet

Phobos as observed by MAVEN's Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph. Orange shows mid-ultraviolet (MUV) sunlight reflected from the

surface of Phobos, exposing the moon's irregular shape and many craters. Blue shows far ultraviolet light detected at 121.6 nm, which

is scattered off of hydrogen gas in the extended upper atmosphere of Mars. Phobos, observed here at a range of 300km, blocks this

light, eclipsing the ultraviolet sky. Credits: CU/LASP and NASA

NASA scientists are closer to solving the mystery of how Mars’ moon Phobos formed.

In late November and early December 2015, NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission

made a series of close approaches to the Martian moon Phobos, collecting data from within 300 miles (500

kilometers) of the moon.

Among the data returned were spectral images of Phobos in the ultraviolet. The images will allow MAVEN scientists

to better assess the composition of this enigmatic object, whose origin is unknown.

Comparing MAVEN's images and spectra of the surface of Phobos to similar data from asteroids and meteorites will

help planetary scientists understand the moon's origin – whether it is a captured asteroid or was formed in orbit

around Mars. The MAVEN data, when fully analyzed, will also help scientists look for organic molecules on the

surface. Evidence for such molecules has been reported by previous measurements from the ultraviolet

spectrograph on the Mars Express spacecraft.

The orbit of MAVEN sometimes crosses the orbit of Phobos. This image shows the configuration of the two orbits in early December

2015, when MAVEN's Phobos observations were made. Credits: CU/LASP

Source: NASA Return to Contents

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The Night Sky

Source: Sky and Telescope Return to Contents

Look east after sunset to see Jupiter rising with the stars of Leo. Sky & Telescope diagram

Tuesday, March 1

Look east after dusk this week for the constellation Leo already climbing well up the sky. Its brightest star is

Regulus, and the Sickle of Leo extends upper left from there. As the saying goes, Leo announces spring.

Last-quarter Moon (exact at 6:11 p.m. EST). The Moon rises in tandem with Saturn around 1 or 2 a.m. tonight and

shines left of Saturn during early dawn of Tuesday the 2nd.

Wednesday, March 2

This is a fine week to look for the zodiacal light if you live in the mid-northern latitudes. At a clear, clean, dark site,

look west at the very end of twilight for a vague but huge, tall pyramid of pearly light. It's tilted left to align along

the constellations of the zodiac. What you're seeing is sunlit interplanetary dust orbiting the Sun near the ecliptic

plane. Believe it or not, seen from interstellar distances this would be the solar system's most prominent feature

after the Sun itself. The "zodiacal lights" of dust around other stars may be a real obstacle to someday seeing their

small, terrestrial planets.

Thursday, March 3

Have you ever seen Canopus, the second-brightest star after Sirius? In one of the many interesting coincidences

that devoted skywatchers know about, Canopus lies almost due south of Sirius: by 36°. That's far enough south

that it never appears above your horizon unless you're below latitude 37° N (southern Virginia, southern Missouri,

and central California). And there you'll need a flat south horizon. Canopus crosses the south point on the horizon

just 21 minutes before Sirius does. When to look? Canopus is due south when Beta Canis Majoris — Mirzim the

Announcer, the star a few finger-widths to the right of Sirius — is at its highest point due south (about 7 or 8 p.m.

now, depending on how far east or west you are in your time zone).

Friday, March 4

The Big Dipper glitters high in the northeast these evenings, standing on its handle. You probably know that the

two stars forming the front of the Dipper's bowl (currently on top) are the Pointers; they point to Polaris, currently

to their left. And, you may know that if you follow the curve of the Dipper's handle out and around by a little more

than a Dipper length, you'll arc to Arcturus, now rising in the east. But did you know that if you follow the Pointers

backward the opposite way, you'll land in Leo? Draw a line diagonally across the Dipper's bowl from where the

handle is attached, continue far on, and you'll go to Gemini. And look at the two stars forming the open top of the

Dipper's bowl. Follow this line past the bowl's lip far across the sky, and you crash into Capella.

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ISS Sighting Opportunities (from Denver)

Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears

Thu Mar 3, 5:25 AM < 1 min 10° 10° above SE 10° above SE

Fri Mar 4, 6:06 AM < 1 min 13° 10° above SW 13° above SSW

Sat Mar 5, 5:15 AM 3 min 25° 11° above S 24° above ESE

Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Time Zone)

Tuesday, March 1

4 p.m. - ISS Expedition 46 Farewells and Hatch Closure Coverage (Kelly, Kornienko, Volkov; hatch

closure scheduled at appx. 4:40 p.m. ET) (Starts at 4:15p.m.) (all channels)

7:30 p.m. - ISS Expedition 46/Soyuz TMA-18M Undocking Coverage (Kelly, Kornienko, Volkov;

undocking scheduled at 8:02 p.m. ET) (Starts at 7:45p.m.) (all channels)

10 p.m. - ISS Expedition 46/Soyuz TMA-18M Deorbit Burn and Landing Coverage (Kelly, Kornienko,

Volkov; deorbit burn scheduled at 10:32 p.m. ET; landing near Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan scheduled at

11:25 p.m. ET) (Starts at 10:15p.m.) (all channels)

Wednesday, March 2

1:30 a.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 46/Soyuz TMA-18M Landing and Post-Landing Activities

(Kelly, Kornienko, Volkov) (all channels)

7:30 a.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 46/Soyuz TMA-18M Post-Landing Activities and Interviews;

scheduled to include post-landing interviews with ISS Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly and Flight

Engineer Mikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos) (all channels)

11:30 p.m. - Live Coverage of the Return to Ellington Field, Houston of ISS Expedition 46 Commander

Scott Kelly of NASA After A Year in Space (time subject to change) (all channels)

Thursday, March 3

7 a.m. - Video File of ISS Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly’s Return to Ellington Field, Houston

(recorded on March 2) (all channels)

10 a.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 47-48 Crew Departure from Star City, Russia for Baikonur,

Kazakhstan (Ovchinin, Skripochka, J. Williams) (all channels)

Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website. Return to Contents

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Space Calendar

Mar 01 - Soyuz TMA-18M Return to Earth (International Space Station)

Mar 01 - 50th Anniversary (1966), Venera 3, Venus Impact (USSR)

Mar 01 - Comet 73P-AJ/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (1.255 AU)

Mar 01 - Comet 309P/LINEAR Closest Approach To Earth (2.723 AU)

Mar 01 - Comet P/2007 R2 (Gibbs) At Opposition (3.994 AU)

Mar 01 - Aten Asteroid 2011 EH17 Near-Earth Flyby (0.028 AU)

Mar 01 - Asteroid 2001 Einstein Closest Approach To Earth (0.872 AU)

Mar 01 - Asteroid 5790 Nagasaki Closest Approach To Earth (1.902 AU)

Mar 01 - Asteroid 3768 Monroe Closest Approach To Earth (2.668 AU)

Mar 01 - Kuiper Belt Object 2013 FZ27 At Opposition (47.768 AU)

Mar 02 - Comet 73P-BR/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (1.956 AU)

Mar 02 - Comet 194P/LINEAR Perihelion (1.698 AU)

Mar 02 - Comet 323P/SOHO Closest Approach To Earth (2.718 AU)

Mar 02 - Comet C/2014 G3 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (4.572 AU)

Mar 02 - Asteroid 253 Mathilde Occults UCAC4-520-044748 (12.2 Magnitude Star)

Mar 02 - Amor Asteroid 2016 CB138 Near-Earth Flyby (0.042 AU)

Mar 02 - Atira Asteroid 2015 DR215 Near-Earth Flyby (0.071 AU)

Mar 02 - Asteroid 4523 MIT Closest Approach To Earth (1.337 AU)

Mar 02 - Asteroid 44016 Jimmypage Closest Approach To Earth (1.441 AU)

Mar 02 - Asteroid 13212 Jayleno Closest Approach To Earth (1.471 AU)

Mar 02 - Asteroid 11334 Rio de Janeiro Closest Approach To Earth (2.026 AU)

Mar 03 - Comet 73P-BD/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (1.865 AU)

Mar 03 - Comet 73P-BG/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (1.901 AU)

Mar 03 - Comet 215P/NEAT At Opposition (4.095 AU)

Mar 03 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 DV1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.003 AU)

Mar 03 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 DM1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.015 AU)

Mar 03 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 DU1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.033 AU)

Mar 04 - Comet 73P-V/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (1.916 AU)

Mar 04 - Asteroid 2245 Hekatostos Occults HIP 70319 (6.4 Magnitude Star)

Mar 04 - Apollo Asteroid 2015 TJ1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.060 AU)

Mar 04 - Apollo Asteroid 2015 WH2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.079 AU)

Mar 05 - Comet C/2016 C1 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (7.753 AU)

Mar 05 - Comet C/2016 C1 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (7.753 AU)

Mar 05 - Asteroid 1612 Hirose Occults HIP 59791 (6.8 Magnitude Star)

Mar 05 - Asteroid 6377 Cagney Closest Approach To Earth (1.510 AU)

Mar 05 - Asteroid 4305 Clapton Closest Approach To Earth (1.720 AU)

Source: JPL Space Calendar Return to Contents

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(Some Real) Food for Thought

NASA Plant Researchers Explore Question of Deep-Space Food Crops

An artist concept depicts a greenhouse on the surface of Mars. Plants are growing with the help of red, blue and green

LED light bars and a hydroponic cultivation approach. Image credit: SAIC

NASA plant physiologist Ray Wheeler, Ph.D., and fictional astronaut Mark Watney from the movie "The

Martian" have something in common — they are both botanists. But that's where the similarities end. While

Watney is a movie character who gets stranded on Mars, Wheeler is the lead for Advanced Life Support

Research activities in the Exploration Research and Technology Program at Kennedy Space Center, working on

real plant research.

As NASA prepares the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission-1, it's also

turning its attention to exploring the possibilities of food crops grown in controlled environments for long-

duration missions to deep-space destinations such as Mars.

Wheeler and his colleagues, including plant scientists, have been studying ways to grow safe, fresh food crops

efficiently off the Earth. Most recently, astronauts on the International Space Station harvested and ate a

variety of red romaine lettuce that they activated and grew in a plant growth system called Veggie.

Wheeler, who has worked at Kennedy since 1988, was among the plant scientists and collaborators who

helped get the Veggie unit tested and certified for use on the space station. The plant chamber, developed by

Orbitec through a NASA Small Business Innovative Research Program, passed safety reviews and met low

power usage and low mass requirements for use on the space station.

Aside from the chamber, the essentials needed for growing food crops, whether on the Earth or another

planet, such as Mars, are water, light and soil, along with some kind of nutrients to help them grow.

What kind of crops could be grown in space or on another planet? Potatoes, sweet potatoes, wheat and

soybeans would all be good according to Wheeler because they provide a lot of carbohydrates, and soybeans

are a good source of protein. Also, potatoes are tubers, which means they store their edible biomass in

underground structures. Wheeler said potatoes could produce twice the amount of food as some seed crops

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when given equivalent light. After salad crops that are now being studied, they are the next category of

minimally processed food crops and could be consumed raw.

"You could begin to grow potatoes, wheat and soybeans, things like that, and along with the salad crops, you

could provide more of a complete diet," Wheeler said.

Wheeler has spent a lot of time studying different ways to grow potatoes. Most of his studies took place during

the late 1980s through the early 2000s inside Hangar L at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The lab

was relocated to the Space Life Sciences Laboratory in 2003. A major portion of the labs were then relocated

to the Space Station Processing Facility in 2014 to become part of the Exploration Research and Technology

Programs Directorate at Kennedy.

Many of the early potato crop studies were done at the University of Wisconsin, where Wheeler worked prior

to coming to Kennedy. Plant scientists at Kennedy used these fundamental findings as a starting point for their

studies, and in particular, a variety called Norland red potatoes, using a large plant chamber called the

Biomass Plant Production Chamber.

The Biomass Production Chamber originally was a hypobaric test chamber used during the Mercury Project.

Including its pedestal, the chamber is 28 feet tall. It was later modified to grow plants in the mid-1980s. Air

circulation ducts and fans, high pressure sodium lamps, cooling and heating systems, and hydroponic trays

and solution tanks were added. The chamber provided a tightly closed atmosphere for plant growth, which

simulated what might be encountered in space.

In the movie, the character chooses to use the regolith, or Martian soil, to grow the plants. In reality, the soil

on Mars is essentially broken rock material, and lacks most of the nutrients needed to sustain plant growth.

Much of what Wheeler did in his potato studies involved growing the plants in shallow, tilted trays using a

hydroponic recirculating system.

"With potatoes, it was a little bit more interesting in the sense that you can't use systems that require a lot of

standing or deep water—potatoes don’t like to be submerged," Wheeler said, "and we kept the nutrient water

film very thin."

They did very well, as do many crops grown this way, according to Wheeler. But traveling in a spacecraft to

another planet will put constraints on the quantity and weight of commodities that could be brought along.

You can't pack everything you need for a long-duration spaceflight. Some resources will need to be recycled,

acquired or made at the destination, a process called in-situ resource utilization.

"The recent discovery of water on Mars is a positive development," said Rob Mueller, senior technologist for

Advanced Projects Development in the Exploration Research and Technology Program at Kennedy. "It can be

used for making propellant, sustaining human life and growing crops."

But, Mueller noted, the water will not be pure and will have a brine composition. Perchlorates and other

impurities are known to exist in the regolith on Mars, so these must be accounted for and mitigated before the

water can be used.

Wheeler said one scenario could be that provisions such as water pumps and fertilizer salts are brought along

on deep-space trips, and the plants are grown hydroponically inside a protected environment. Martian soils

might be used later as the growing systems expand.

In open fields on Earth, light is plentiful. But out in space, use of direct sunlight for plant growth could be

challenging. Yet having sufficient light will be required for growing plants quickly in space.

In 2007, a graduate student at the University of Colorado mapped the light intensity at the surface of Mars

over two Martian years. Results showed that the Red Planet gets 43 percent of the sunlight that Earth receives

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due to its distance from the sun, but has numerous areas at low latitudes that receive adequate light to grow

plants.

"Mars gets significant dust storms, which could block a lot of sunlight, and that must be considered," Wheeler

said. "That's an issue, even if we're using a photovoltaic system."

That's the reason why planetary probes and spacecraft that travel farther away from the sun, like Cassini,

Galileo and New Horizons, didn't use photovoltaic type systems. Just like in the movie, they use radioactive

thermal generators, also called RTGs, as power generators. It's a form of radioactive decay that generates

heat, which is converted to electrical power.

"An alternate approach to sunlight would be to use electric light sources. High intensities of efficient LED lights

could be used to help push the plants hard," Wheeler said. "This is an area where NASA has been really right

up on the edge of research and development."

The Veggie plant growth system, currently on the space station, uses blue and red LED lights. Wheeler said

using LED lights to grow plants was an idea that originated from a NASA-funded effort at the University of

Wisconsin in the 1980s. The technology was patented with NASA-supported funds.

As if finding the right soil, water and lighting wasn’t enough of a challenge, food crops also would need to be

protected from ultraviolet radiation and kept inside a pressurized environment with adequate nutrients and

appropriate lighting. The shelter would have to be able to withstand radiation and the extreme temperatures

of a Martian environment.

"That's a big challenge for materials for a greenhouse-like structure. The thermal issues could be alleviated by

having either a cover or clamshell that would go over it at night and open in the daytime," Wheeler suggested.

When nuclear power was emerging in the 1970s, there was a lot of interest in understanding the potential

effects of radiation on living organisms, including plants. There are limits to what plants can take, and Wheeler

said more research needs to be done on the tolerance of food crops to radiation.

How do you regenerate your food source? If you consume everything over a period of time, you will eventually

run out. But there's something special about potato tubers. Potatoes have "eyes" or buds. If given enough

time, the eyes sprout. Sections of potatoes containing at least one "eye" could be replanted so they can sprout

and produce new plants. This process was illustrated in The Martian, and actually is used by seed potato

growers in field settings on Earth who then take their crops and sell them to production companies.

During the 1990s, NASA's potato studies with hydroponics got the attention of the Frito-Lay Company in

Wisconsin. Wheeler consulted with the company on ways to produce clean, disease-free seed potato stock.

Growing crops in space or on another planet could provide other benefits besides food. Plants could serve to

provide oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from air sources. While plants grow, they generate oxygen through

photosynthesis, and they would scrub carbon dioxide out of the air inside a cabin environment. Wheeler said if

you co-utilize them in the right manner, they could help process wastewater.

And as odd as it sounds, using wastewater, or even urine, as a source of nutrients for plant growth could be

an option. Aboard the space station, U.S. astronauts use the Environmental Control and Life Support System

— a system that collects and recycles used water, wastewater and urine.

While the recent movie made it seem like growing potatoes on Mars was a no-brainer, a lot of research has

gone into making that a real possibility. With humans expected to plant boots on Mars in the next couple of

decades, solving the challenges of growing plants in space today is critical to our journey to the Red Planet.

Source: NASA Return to Contents

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Space Image of the Week

Flying Through the Aurora's Green Fog

Image Credit: Image Credit: ESA/NASA

Explanation: Expedition 46 flight engineer Tim Peake of the European Space Agency (ESA) shared a stunning

image of a glowing aurora taken on Feb. 23, 2016, from the International Space Station. Peake wrote, "The

@Space_Station just passed straight through a thick green fog of #aurora…eerie but very beautiful.

#Principia"

The dancing lights of the aurora provide spectacular views on the ground, but also capture the imagination of

scientists who study incoming energy and particles from the sun. Aurora are one effect of such energetic

particles, which can speed out from the sun both in a steady stream called the solar wind and due to giant

eruptions known as coronal mass ejections or CMEs.

Source: NASA Return to Contents