Astronauts on future missions won’t be surviving on freeze-dried meals and protein bars. Instead, they might be harvesting fresh rice from compact plants just 10 centimetres tall, engineered specifically for life beyond Earth. The revolutionary ‘Moon Rice’ project is developing the perfect crop for sustained space habitation, combining cutting edge genetics with the practical needs of deep space exploration.
The challenge is enormous. Current space exploration relies heavily on pre-prepared, expensive meals shipped from Earth that are nutritionally limited and psychologically unsatisfying. As we prepare for permanent bases on the Moon and Mars, astronauts will need fresh food rich in vitamins, antioxidants, and fibre to counteract the negative health effects of the space environment.
“Living in space is all about recycling resources and living sustainably, we are trying to solve the same problems that we face here on Earth.” – Marta Del Bianco, a plant biologist at the Italian Space Agency leading the project.
The four-year collaborative effort involves three Italian universities, each contributing specialised expertise to create an entirely new type of crop. Their biggest obstacle though is size. Even dwarf varieties of rice grown on Earth are too large for space habitats where every cubic centimetre matters. Traditional dwarf crops achieve their compact size by manipulating gibberellin, a plant hormone that reduces height but creates problems with seed germination and productivity.
The University of Milan is tackling this challenge by isolating mutant rice varieties that grow to just 10 centimetres high, roughly the height of a typical smartphone. Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Rome are identifying genes that alter plant architecture to maximise production efficiency in minimal space. The University of Naples contributes expertise in space crop production, building on decades of research into growing plants in controlled environments.
Astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor harvests red Russian kale and dragoon lettuce on board the International Space Station where food growing experiments have been a key activity for astronauts during their stay. (Credit : NASA/ESA/Alexander Gerst)
Since meat production will be impractical in resource limited space habitats, the team is also engineering the rice to be more nutritionally complete. They’re increasing the protein content by boosting the ratio of protein rich embryo to starch, potentially making this tiny rice a more complete food source for astronauts.
The team are focussing their attention to try and resolve one of space’s most unique challenges: plant growth in microgravity. On Earth, plants use gravity to orient themselves, knowing which way is up and down. In space, this natural compass disappears. To enable their research, the team simulate microgravity by continuously rotating the plants. Gravity then pulls equally in all directions so that each side gets activated continuously and it doesn’t know where up and down is.
The psychological benefits of fresh food extend far beyond nutrition. Many humans get a great psychological benefit in watching and guiding plants to grow. The pre-cooked, often mushy food presented to astronauts can be fine for short periods but it could become a serious concern for longer duration missions. The stress-reducing effects of gardening and fresh food could be crucial for maintaining astronaut mental health during years-long missions to Mars.
Astronauts on trips to Mars will need more nutritional and psychologically satisfying food. (Credit : Kavin Gill)
Nine months into the project, preliminary results are promising. The researchers are successfully creating rice varieties that could transform how we think about food production in extreme environments. Whether feeding astronauts on Mars or communities in Earth’s harshest regions, these super dwarf, nutrient rich crops represent a future where fresh food isn’t limited by location, even if that location is another planet.
Source : Lunar Astronauts Could Eat “Moon Rice”
