A NASA fellow and aerospace engineering student at the University of Colorado has invented a robot and artificial intelligence system that’s may open new avenues for space exploration and habitation. Heather Hava won the $15,000 “Eat it!” Lemelson-MIT undergraduate prize for her robotic gardeners, and now she hopes to raise $150,000 to fund further development of the product through her company Autoponics.
One of Hava’s inventions is a smart pot called SPOT: a soilless, hydroponic pod capable of growing a wide variety of fruits and vegetables — everything from strawberries to tomatoes and leafy greens. The nutrient-rich water filters into a reservoir, and the system is designed to monitor the garden as it grows so astronauts can focus on other tasks. Sensors track each plant’s vital signs and resources, gauging water temperature, pH level, and humidity within the pods.
An AI application called AgQ analyzes and reports that data back to astronauts. The system can detect if a plant is dying or low on water and immediately send an alert to the plant’s caretakers. It can even monitor the astronauts themselves by connecting to a suit that analyzes their nervous systems.
A remote controlled rover named “ROGR” is a collaboration between Havas and NASA. ROGR is just a prototype at this point, but may one day roll around the garden, inspecting plants and relaying video back to astronauts.
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Astronauts will still need to replace water and harvest their own crops though. Hava insists this hands-on element is important – a form of therapy for astronauts far from Earth, confined to cramped quarters in desolate space. “They get to watch the strawberry grow, see it develop, turn from pink to red,” she told Business Insider. “There’s a psychological benefit through those visual cues. And at the end, you get a prize.” That prize is, of course, produce.
Space fodder tends to be freeze-dried or dehydrated; meals that leave many astronauts craving something fresh — but unfortunately NASA doesn’t pack and ship fresh produce into space. But with systems like SPOT, AgQ, and ROGR, astronauts might soon be able to grow their own gardens in environments as harsh as Mars.
After 13 suborbital test flights and more than $15 billion in development costs, SpaceX's Starship has finally reached orbit. The 407-foot megarocket, the most powerful ever built, lifted off from Starbase, Texas, on Monday and delivered its first real payload on it's 14th attempt. The celebration came with an asterisk, though, since SpaceX had to cut the planned 10-hour mission to roughly three hours.
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/2104601695711904180
SpaceX is finally ready to give Starship its biggest test yet. The company says the massive rocket's 14th test flight is scheduled for September 22, when it will attempt to put the upper stage into Earth orbit for the first time. The launch is currently pending regulatory approval, with a 75-minute window opening at 7:15 a.m. CT.
Starship has 26 Starlink satellites to deliver
For decades, humanity has looked up at the Moon and wondered what it would be like to live on it. Think sprawling cities, factories, research centers, and permanent human settlements. Unfortunately, there is one fairly fundamental problem with that vision.
A new study published in Frontiers in Space Technologies argues that even the Moon's potentially enormous reserves of frozen water may be nowhere near enough to support city-sized populations sustainably. Researchers Martin Elvis and Jonathan McDowell estimate that the permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles could contain roughly one billion tons of water. It sounds like an extraordinary amount until you put a million thirsty humans next to it.