Adapting Plants to Enable Deep and Long Duration Space Habitation

Researcher: Professor Matthew Gilliham & Associate Professor Jenny Mortimer

Benefits to life in space

Provide enhanced nutrition to support healthy astronauts using a small number of optimised plant species. Plants will be developed as green factories for on-demand production of medicines and materials. Growth systems will have minimal inputs and minimal waste, and minimal down-stream processing of products.  Crops will be redesigned to thrive in the controlled conditions of Space, including low gravity, constant light, high CO2, and constrained space. 

Benefits to life on Earth

Development of sustainable, low-waste closed environment agriculture systems for the small-scale, local production of food, even in remote regions unsuitable for traditional agriculture.