Space Discovery
In the advent of the Alien: Covenant movie, we are focusing on discoveries in space! I believe we have an exciting year ahead concerning space travel. According to a short writeup by New Scientist, Elon Musk’s SpaceX efforts are bringing us to the future, almost mimicking Jules Verne’s 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon. Since I was a child, I remember reading and hearing talks about setting up a human colony in one of the many planets such as Mars and the Moon. I was intrigued after reading a book conceptualizing future homes in unimaginable places. The idea of living under a futuristic human colony on the Moon and being able to look out at millions of stars got my imagination running wild.
Stanford Torus, a habitat design proposed by NASA to house 10000 to 140000 permanent residents.
The same excitement and wonder reignited while I was shifting through science magazines and writeups for my university newspaper article. I came across the article ‘Dutch Crops Grown on ‘Mars’ Soil Found Safe to Eat’ by Phys.org, which of course may sound familiar for those who watched The Martian, starring Matt Damon. Since getting real lunar and Martian soil was near impossible, researchers from Wageningen University in the Netherlands did an internet search for options and found a surprising supplier: NASA.
According to AFP, NASA ‘makes ground similar to that on the Moon from sand found in an Arizona desert, while Mars’ crimson “soil” is scooped from a volcano in Hawaii.’ Senior ecologist Wieger Wamelink stated the “space soil” seemed reluctant to absorb water in the initial stages but soon became a good potting soil. To date, they have managed to grow radishes, peas, rye, and tomatoes. The 50-day experiment was published in the science journal PLOS One. Although the crops were successful, it has yet to be seen whether it was safe for consumption. This is because the Martian and lunar soil may contain heavy metals that are harmless to plants but could prove fatal to humans. Wamelink proposes a solution: if the vegetables contain arsenic, mercury or iron, the soil can be purified by growing other plants such as violets, which absorbs the poisons. An update on the 23rd of June 2016 stated that the vegetables were safe for consumption and no dangerous levels of heavy metals were found.
Vegetable Production System (Veggie) aboard the ISS. The purple length is the wavelength that best promotes photosynthesis and growth of plants. Image by NASA.
High above in the sky, astronauts have been trying to grow edible plants in the Veggie facility on the International Space Station (ISS). They accidentally drowned the first batch of their romaine lettuce (they were frantic when the plants got dehydrated, they are not gardeners after all. They are just like us!) but managed to get it to flower the second time. Feeling confident, they decided to experiment growing zinnias. It obviously didn’t work out well the first time. The astronauts had to follow a strict protocol for growing plants and found the zinnias were drowning in water after being planted for two weeks. Ten days later, water droplets formed along the leaf edges while some leaves started to bend and curl. The water droplets showed a sign of high humidity, causing excess water to be forced out of the leaf tips. The curling leaves were symptoms of flooded roots.
Oh no, mold on the zinnias! Plants are grown in planting ‘pillows.’ Image by NASA.
To quickly remedy the problem, the astronauts put the fan on high and went on their emergency spacewalk. Unfortunately, the plant tissues were starting to die and mould began forming. The presence of mould in a room with low circulation put astronauts at a health risk as well. They made an emergency call at 4am to the Veggie project lead investigator for aid. Veggie head scientist, Trent Smith, gathered his team and immediately set up procedures for astronaut/ emergency gardener Scott Kelly. He cut out the mouldy tissue, bagged and froze it for later study on Earth. He then sanitized the surfaces with cleaning wipes. Two days after, Kelly discovered having the fan constantly on high to prevent mould was drying the crops too much. Another looming problem was the next scheduled watering is in another three days.
It was at this point Kelly lost his temper and pushed to go against protocol. He argued with the ground staff and said, “You know, I think if we’re going to Mars, and we were growing stuff, we would be responsible for deciding when the stuff needed water. Kind of like in my backyard, I look at it and say ‘Oh, maybe I should water the grass today.’ I think this is how this should be handled.”
Instead of getting annoyed, Trent Smith was ecstatic and created “The Zinnia Care Guide for the On-Orbit Gardener” with the Veggie team. It was a concise set of basic guidelines to help astronaut-gardeners use their human judgement. Following this new guide, two remaining plants thrived and that was how the world received the first photo of a flower grown entirely in space on January 16th, 2016.
The Survivors. Image by Scott Kelly/ NASA.
The third article that caught my attention was the successful breeding of mice in space. This was a breakthrough because everything in space is subjected to high levels of radiation. According to researchers, “radiation on the ISS is more than 100 times stronger than that on Earth, and irradiation causes DNA damage in cells and gametes.”
Bringing animals into space require special considerations due to microgravity. Astronauts will have to replace aquarium-style cages with mesh cages so that the mice could grip onto the wire meshes to move around. The usual wood chip bedding won’t stay in place as well and this just showed only a partial amount of adjustment needed just to bring animals on board. For this experiment, instead of bringing actual mice, the team kept the freeze-dried sperms on board the ISS for nine months. Once it was brought back to Earth, analysis showed that there were some damage to the space- preserved sperms’ DNA but after being transferred to female mice via in vitro fertilization, the ‘mice moms had healthy pups.’ The baby mice grew to adulthood without any health complication and exhibited normal fertility. The success of this experiment will help scientist understand how to best prepare the human sperm for, you know, growing the future human colony in space!
White mouse foster mom with the pups. Image by Sayaka Wakayama from University of Yamanashi via AP.
Other than breeding mice, scientists aboard the ISS are currently studying our telomeres; the protective caps at the end of our chromosomes. Our telomeres shorten as we age and scientists expected spaceflight to accelerate the shortening of an astronaut’s DNA. However, they discovered astronaut Scott Kelly’s telomeres had lengthened when compared to his twin, Mark. This spurned NASA’s Twins Study.
Short telomeres are associated with number of illnesses such as cancer, aplastic anemia, and liver dysfunction. Thus, although Scott Kelly seemed to have unlocked an anti-aging miracle, the lengthening of telomeres could pose problems in the future. If extended spaceflight is increasing an astronaut’s risk of developing diseases, scientists need to figure out a way to prevent that from happening.
Who looks younger? Scott (right) or Mark Kelly? Look like Gru and his brother, Dru of Despicable Me! Image by NASA.
As mentioned earlier, radiation in space is a hundred times stronger than on Earth. Astronauts are currently being protected by heavy aluminium shields but are too expensive to ship. To save cost, scientists are looking into using materials found in space. Daniel Britt at the University of Central Florida points us towards asteroids. According to New Scientist, clays in asteroids are rich in hydrogen, qualifying it as the ‘most effective shielding material for protons and cosmic rays.’ Britt and his colleague, Leos Pohl, found that the clays are up to 10 per cent more effective than aluminium at stopping high-energy particles given off by the sun and other cosmic bodies. However, extracting clay from asteroids is still a problem because no current machines exist to mine in zero gravity. Since clays are non-magnetic, massive magnets hypothetically can be used to separate the clays from the other materials in the asteroid.
Swirling clouds on Jupiter's pole. Image by NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS
Another thrilling discovery in space are the Earth-sized cyclones on Jupiter. NASA’s Juno probe sent back the first-ever images of the raging storms on Jupiter’s north pole. According to Glenn Orton of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the cyclones are probably composed of condensed ammonia. Strange white ovals have been spotted in belts south of Jupiter’s equator as well. According to Alberto Adriani of the Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology in Rome, Juno’s infrared radiation readings showed that the strange ovals could be clouds containing ammonia and hydrazine, a substance used as rocket fuel on Earth.
Adriani also showed stunning infrared images of the auroras which occur daily at the poles. He discovered that the areas where the auroras glowed are composed of methane and an ion containing three hydrogen atoms (H3+) at temperatures ranging from 500 to 950 kelvin (approximately 227 to 677 degree Celcius).
To learn more about space exploration or even just for leisure, I suggest those who are interested to follow NASA’s Instagram account and watch their Instagram stories. NASA employees talk to scientists involved in the researches and show the equipment used.
Another suggestion is to watch Netflix’s Mars Generation. It’s a documentary following aspiring teenage astronauts in Space Camp simulating a mission to Mars aboard the Mars Elysium Base. Along with some history on space travel, we get to see what else goes on in Space Camp! For those interested in anime, tune into Uchuu Kyoudai or also known as Space Brothers to keep your interest in space travel alive.