Researchers at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg want to find out whether tomatoes can also be grown in weightlessness and without human care. To find out, a satellite with two greenhouses and a specially cultivated tomato variety will be launched into orbit in 2016. The scientists will do this in cooperation with the German Centre for Aerospace (DLR).
"The experiments will provide important information to enable a survival of humanity in space," says DLR researcher Jens Hauslage. He is the scientific leader of the mission.
However, because plants can’t grow completely without gravity, this will be artificially generated by means of rotations of the satellite. In addition, there is a water tank on board and a tank with a single-celled algae. Fertilizers in the form of artificial urine should feed the tomatoes. Here the algae do their job: they break down the ammonia in the urine. What remains are nitrates and important nutrients for the plants.
The tomatoes will spend a year in space. Progress will be filmed by 32 cameras.