In an attempt to surge the capability to offer astronauts with nutrients on long-term missions as the space agency intends to ecologically return to the Moon and go ahead to Mars, the Veg-PONDS (passive orbital nutrient delivery system)-02 mission is presently underway onboard the ISS (International Space Station). The current technique of cultivating plants in space utilizes seed bags—referred to as pillows—which astronauts give water with a syringe. By using this method, it makes difficult to grow specific types of “pick and eat” crops further than lettuce varieties. The crops such as tomatoes need a large amount of water to grow, and pillows do not have the adequate holding capacity to support them.
As a substitute to the pillows, 12 PONDS plant growth divisions are being put via their paces. The PONDS items are cheaper to produce, have more water carrying capacity, offer greater space for root development and are a totally passive system. It also hints that PONDS can provide water and air to crops without additional power. The 21-Day test is a collaboration amongst NASA, the Tupperware Brands Corporation, Techshot, Inc., NASA’s GRC (Glenn Research Center), and Mark Weislogel at PSU (Portland State University). As the U.S. National Laboratory, the space station offers government agencies and commercial companies with the capability to test the mission in a microgravity environment.
Recently, the ISS was in news as the tissue chip was headed to the space station for the study of osteoarthritis. In recent time, the NCATS (National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences)-supported tissue-chip arrangement with direct medical applications for health conditions on Earth was released on the SpaceX’s CRS 17/Falcon 9 rocket. Seemingly, hundreds of millions of individuals worldwide experience osteoarthritis and presently there are no disease-modifying medications that can reverse or halt the progression of osteoarthritis, only painkillers for short-span symptomatic relief.
